Italy speeds up privatisation with sale of postal operator

Italy's coalition government says it is going ahead with a 40 per cent sale of state-owned postal services operator Poste Italiane as part of a wider privatisation plan to reduce public debt.

Fabrizio Saccomanni, finance minister, was quoted by Italian media as saying in Davos that the cabinet would approve a privatisation decree on Friday. "It will begin with 40 per cent of Poste and then we will see," he said.

Enrico Letta, prime minister, has previously announced plans to raise up to €12bn through selling stakes in public entities over the next year. Reuters quoted government sources as saying the sale of up to 40 per cent of Poste Italiane could raise €6bn.

The privatisation of Poste Italiane could be a slow process running into next year, according to bankers involved. Antonio Catricala, deputy industry minister, told parliament this week that details could be finalised in the next five or six months.

Mr Saccomanni gave no details of how the government would sell a minority stake in Poste Italiane. A government official, who asked not to be named, said one possibility under consideration was a partial sale to Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), a Treasury-controlled fund which manages the postal savings deposits taken by Poste Italiane.

Economists have criticised what they call quasi-privatisations using CDP. Last year the fund took a stake in Ansaldo Energia from state-controlled Finmeccanica rather than let the turbine-maker fall into foreign hands. The Genoa-based group had received offers from Siemens of Germany and Doosan of South Korea.

The sale of Poste Italiane has been mooted for several years but successive governments have avoided taking a decision. The group, which employs 144,000, reported a net profit of €1bn in 2012 on revenues of €24bn, with €19bn deriving from its financial and insurance services. It declined to comment on Thursday.

Poste Italiane, led by chief executive Massimo Sarmi, decided last year to acquire19.5 per cent of Alitalia in a recapitalisation that saved the privately owned airline from bankruptcy.

The government is also planning to privatise Fincantieri, the ship-building group. Bankers at Italian and international investment banks are making presentations this week and next to officials who are looking to list the company on the Milan stock exchange this year, according to people with direct knowledge of the discussions.

Early sales of state assets are seen as a priority by the government which, after two years of recession, is struggling to maintain its budget deficit under the 3 per cent limit set by the European Commission while servicing a public debt of more than €2tn.

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