MILAN, Oct 3 (Reuters) - The city of Rome will have to cut its stake in its utility Acea SpA to 30 percent to meet government rules, Libero newspaper said on Saturday citing Rome city alderman for finance Maurizio Leo.
The city will have to sell by 2012 a 21 percent stake, worth around 390 million euros based on Friday's closing price, because of a recent Italian government decree applying EU norms, the newspaper said.
'The municipality today has 51 percent of Acea's shares but will have to come down to 30 percent,' Leo said in Libero.
'The intention is to sell this part (the 21 percent) but to ensure control, that is not to say by right but by having a dominant influence,' he said.
City mayor Gianni Alemanno repeatedly said this year he wanted to keep 51 percent of Acea.
Libero said there is a deadline next Thursday for amendments before the decree proposed by the prime minister's office becomes law and that Alemanno is not expected to seek changes even if the sell-down deadline could slip to 2015.
French energy company GdF Suez holds a 9.9 percent stake in Acea and has operational links with the Rome utility. Businessman Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone has built a 7.5 percent stake in Acea.
At the end of September, Acea Chief Executive Marco Staderini said that the decree would not have any impact on the utility's business plan, due Oct. 15, because it does not change the terms of utility concessions.
(Writing by Nigel Tutt; Editing by Ron Askew) Keywords: ACEA/ (nigel.tutt@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 66129723; Reuters Messaging:nigel.tutt.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The city will have to sell by 2012 a 21 percent stake, worth around 390 million euros based on Friday's closing price, because of a recent Italian government decree applying EU norms, the newspaper said.
'The municipality today has 51 percent of Acea's shares but will have to come down to 30 percent,' Leo said in Libero.
'The intention is to sell this part (the 21 percent) but to ensure control, that is not to say by right but by having a dominant influence,' he said.
City mayor Gianni Alemanno repeatedly said this year he wanted to keep 51 percent of Acea.
Libero said there is a deadline next Thursday for amendments before the decree proposed by the prime minister's office becomes law and that Alemanno is not expected to seek changes even if the sell-down deadline could slip to 2015.
French energy company GdF Suez holds a 9.9 percent stake in Acea and has operational links with the Rome utility. Businessman Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone has built a 7.5 percent stake in Acea.
At the end of September, Acea Chief Executive Marco Staderini said that the decree would not have any impact on the utility's business plan, due Oct. 15, because it does not change the terms of utility concessions.
(Writing by Nigel Tutt; Editing by Ron Askew) Keywords: ACEA/ (nigel.tutt@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 66129723; Reuters Messaging:nigel.tutt.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
