Milan, 19 December 2017 – Italgas has signed today a loan agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) for a total amount of € 360 million for the financing of some initiatives aimed at strengthening its distribution network and making the gas distribution system even more efficient and secure.
The Project, named «Network Upgrade», consists in the extension and expansion of the gas distribution network, the installation of smart meters and the modernization and replacement of existing assets in order to improve the safety and operational efficiency of the network.
The 360 million Euro loan will be at floating rate and will run for 20 years, of which 5 years will be pre-amortisation, at market conditions particularly. Disbursement is expected by the end of December, as well as the repayment of a previous EIB loan of EUR 300 million.
The closing of this loan is part of Italgas’ strategy to optimise its financial structure, both in terms of reducition of the cost of funding and extension of the average duration of EIB loans, totalling 784 million euro, making the Group one of the largest Italian counterparties of the Bank, supporting the significant investment plan envisaged in the Company’s Strategic Plan.
Turin, 18 December 2017 – Today, with the delivery in Turin of the first cars, the company’s entire Italgas fleet is being renovated with methane powered vehicles by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. In the next few days similar deliveries will be made in Rome and Naples, two of the main cities where the Italgas Group operates.
For Italgas – the most important operator in Italy in the natural gas distribution and the third largest in Europe – this is an important step along a virtuous path that will lead to a considerable reduction in harmful emissions into the atmosphere, contributing to making the air in the cities where it operates more breathable.
The delivery of the cars took place at the historic Italgas area of Corso Regina Margherita in Turin. On the occasion, Alfredo Altavilla (Chief Operating Officer for the EMEA area of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) and Giacomo Carelli (CEO of FCA Bank and Leasys) have symbolically handed over the keys to Paolo Gallo (CEO di Italgas) and Paolo Bacchetta (CEO of Italgas Reti).
The conversion of the company’s fleet into methane gas – the first in Italy to be completely methane – is one of the initiatives launched under the Italgas 2017-2023 Industrial Plan, which also included the construction of over 120 self-consumption gas filling stations within the 40 suitable technical areas.
Currently, the Italgas Group’s fleet is composed by 2,500 vehicles and over the next 12 months will be replaced with the latest “natural power” models of FCA: Panda, Panda Van, Fiorino, 500L, Doblò, Qubo and Ducato, all of them naturally fuelled by methane, in line with Italgas’ demands that considers the key of its development to be sustainable and efficient.
Today, methane for transportation is an intelligent and environmentally sustainable choice. It is an ecological, safe, practical and economical fuel. Its use reduces by up to 43% (mixed with biomethane, in the well to wheel optics) CO2 emissions and by 94-95% those of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and PM particulates.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ commitment to natural gas dates back to the nineties of the last century: an Italian technology, which FCA has created and grown, among the first manufacturers to believe and invest in the development of this type of power supply. Today it is among the leaders in the European market, with about 45 percent share, more than 740 thousand cars and commercial vehicles sold since 1997 and Panda, the most popular methane car ever, with more than 300 thousand vehicles sold.
Leasys confirms its role as a leader in the management of corporate fleets and in the rental sector during this partnership with Italgas. In fact, the FCA Bank company responds to the needs of every type of customer (with different characteristics and needs) with flexible and innovative solutions and offers. For example, formulas that reward the shift from ownership to use of the vehicle and that allow for positive spill-over effects in terms of congestion, improvement of the environment and reduction of vehicle costs.
Milan, 6 December 2017 – Italgas has today completed the acquisition of 100% of Enerco Distribuzione S.p.A. from H2C S. p. A., upon the fulfilment of the obligations for H2C S.p.A. envisaged in the agreement.
The total value of the transaction is EUR 51 million and has been paid in the amount of EUR 38 million per cash and in the amount of EUR 13 million through taking charge of the debts of the Company.
Enerco Distribuzione owns 27 concessions in the provinces of Padua and Vicenza, manages a network of more than 800 kilometres of pipelines and serves about 30 thousand users.
The completion of the operation, which is in line with the growth strategy set out in the 2017-2023 Business Plan, allows Italgas to strengthen its presence in an area in the North-East of the country considered of great importance for the development of the Group and to put into practice the possible synergies with the assets it already manages in the region.
