Monthly M&A Insider - Mergermarket

Italy
M&A in Italy in 2009
• The first quarter of 2009 has passed, and the initial three
months of the new year behaved in line with most of
the pessimistic post-crisis forecasts. March was a quiet
month, with the biggest deal post-crisis €174m, a far
cry from last months top deal, where Snam acquired
Italgas and Stogit, for €4.7bn. Out of a total number of 12
transactions (totalling €439m), an average deal size value
of €36.6m.
• Two mega-deals particularly boosted the Q1 ranking:
the Snam deal (as stated above), and the acquisition of
Alleanza Assicurazioni SpA by Assicurazioni Generali SpA
for a total value of €3.6bn. Together these deals represent
84.2% of total value for the first quarter 2009.
• Latest statistics forecast a consistent high number of
consolidations in the Financial Services sector, which
is unsurprising given the difficulties the sector is facing
globally. As a matter of fact, one third of the top 15 deals
in Q1 are occupied by transactions involving financial
institutions which at a total of €4bn, account for 40.6%
of the total value generated in the first quarter. The
deals include banks such as Banca Italease, insurance
companies such as Alleanza Assicurazioni, Private Equity
firms such as Sator SpA and brokerage units such as
IntesaTRADE S.I.M. S.p.A.
• Mediobanca kept its pole position as financial adviser,
with 6 deals advised and a total value of €20bn, increasing
only in the first quarter its total deals value of €3.3bn
compared to YE 2008 total value of €16.7bn. JP Morgan
and Citigroup also reported a consistent increase in value
and gained important positions, ranking themselves
respectively as second and third players. On the legal
advisers ranking, Bonelli Erede Pappalardo and Chiomenti
Studio Legale keep fighting for the leading positions,
followed by Cuatrecasas Goncalves Pereira, Latham &
Watkins and Uria Menendez at the third position.
M&A activity in the Real Estate sector
• The real estate sector saw some M&A activity in Italy
during March. Tundra, the Italian real estate company,
was acquired by API Real Estate, whilst Banca
Intermobiliare di Investimenti e Gestioni (BIM) launched
an obligatory public offer for real estate company, IPI.
• The owner of Tundra Stefano Ricucci decided to put
the company for sale after his property group, Magiste
International, went bankrupt in January 2007. Known
for its beautiful park view, Villa Correlli, the main asset
of Tundra, was initially valued at €53m. This price was
higher than what potential bidders were prepared to
offer and Tundra’s administrator Domenico Fazzalari
had to re-launch the auction several times since early
2008. The price went down to €40m in October 2008
yet the company had no offers. Finally, in March 2009 it
was announced that API Real Estate, controlled by the
Brachetti Peretti family, will become the new owner of
Tundra. As the only bidder, API has acquired the luxury
historic villa for a sum of €36m.
• On the 30th of March, Banca Intermobiliare di
Investimenti e Gestioni (BIM), Italian advisory bank, has
made clear its intention to acquire the remaining 51%
in IPI, the listed Italian real estate company, through
an obligatory public offer. BIM had a 29.04% stake in
IPI when it took control over a 19.74% stake of Danilo
Coppola, the imprisoned previous controlling shareholder
of IPI. BIM now holds a 48.8% in IPI and it has offered
a sum of €27m for the remaining 51% stake. Previously,
it was expected that business allies of Danilo Coppola
– Gabriele Sabatini and Angelo Bassati would acquire a
29% stake of IPI from BIM. However, an announcement
made by Marconi 2000, the construction company
owned by Sabatini and Bassati, halted the process. This
was followed by BIM’s move to increase its stake in IPI.
BIM has yet to deal with the challenges of its recent
move. It has managed to grow significantly in IPI, yet its
final balance sheet for 2008 has demonstrated a loss of
€61.8m.
Monthly M&A report – 133