Merger Between Italian Utilities Iride and Enia Merger Moves Forward

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Last week, the boards of directors of the former Iride Spa (BIT:IRD) (Turin, Italy) and Enia Spa (BIT:EN) (Parma, Italy) approved the fundamental aspects of a merger between the companies and confirmed that a meeting will be held on April 28 regarding a final approval for the deal.

The boards approved merger plans in October 2008. If the deal goes through, Enia will be incorporated into Iride, creating a major multiutility with headquarters in Reggio Emilia and offices in Genova, Parma, Piacenza and Turin. Each Enia share will be exchanged for one Iride share at a 4.2:1 rate.

The new utility will operate in electricity production and distribution, gas and water networks, and heating, as well as environmental and renewable energy areas. It will provide energy for 1.7 million customers as well as water and waste treatment services for 2.3 million customers.

Iride was created in 2006 by the merger of municipal utilities AEM (Turin) and AMGA (Genova). It operates 17 power stations -- 12 hydro, one photovoltaic and four thermoelectric with cogeneration -- with an installed capacity of 1,055 megawatts (MW) of electricity and 1,060 MW of thermal energy for district heating. It also provides gas distribution and water services.

Enia was created in 2006 from the municipality utilities AGAC (Reggio Emilia), AMPS (Parma) and Tesa (Piacenza). This multiutility distributes and sells gas, electricity and heating, and provides services in integrated water systems and waste treatment.

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