International focus on F2i Aerporti

The Australian Fund Ifm is interested in a share of the holding chaired by Mauro Maia (F2i Aeroporti)

Mauro Maia (F2i Senior Partner and President of F2i Aeroporti) recently announced that F2i would sell a 49% share of the F2i Aeroporti holding, which represents the participation of the infrastructure fund in the airport sector. The sale has now come to a decisive step. According to Il Sole 24 Ore, which announced the news, the first signs of interest were shown last Friday. The newspaper reported that the Australian Ifm (Industry Funds Management), one the most important infrastructure funds worldwide, is one of the keenest organisations to evaluate the transaction.

However, it appears that Ifm is not the only potential candidate interested in a share of F2i Aeroporti. According to Il Sole 24 Ore, around 20 other entities have expressed their interest, including Ardian – F2i's shareholder – and other English and American infrastructure funds.

F2i thus confirms its international vocation. This asset management company was launched in 2007 by Vito Gamberale and other important institutional Italian and foreign investors with the objective to invest in Italy's strategic infrastructures aiming at creating business sectors, including airports.

The total value of F2i Aeroporti is estimated at around 800 million Euros. “A network of great strategic and business value,” stated Confindustria's business and finance newspaper.

The current share for sale is reported to be worth 400-500 million Euros; the first non-binding offers for this transactions are expected by September.

The article also recalls that, in 2013, the airport sector companies participated by F2i recorded a 254 million Euro EBITDA and 1 billion Euro returns. As recently highlighted by F2i Aeroporti President Mauro Maia, the sale aims at consolidating the airport sector in cooperation with the long term partner that will participate in this transaction.

The Sole 24 Ore article on F2i Aeroporti – the company chaired by Mauro Maia – can be viewed at the following link:

http://carlofesta.blog.ilsole24ore.com/2014/07/24/per-gli-aeroporti-di-f2i-in-campo-gli-australiani-di-ifm/

F2i’s commitment in Italian airports

Il Secolo XIX published today an article talking of five potential bidders for a majority share in Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport. Among the names mentioned by the newspaper also F2i, the Italian fund specialized in infrastructures led by the long experienced manager Vito Gamberale, appears.

F2i has recently announced the disposal of the share held by Aeroporti Holding – a company controlled by the Fund through Sagat (managing company of Turin Caselle Airport) – in AdF - Aeroporti di Firenze.

The Ligurian newspaper makes the hypothesis that the recent disposal by F2i may favour the Fund’s race in the tender for Genoa’s airport.

Meanwhile, F2i’s Senior Partner specialized in the TLC and airport sectors, Mauro Maia, yesterday commented the disposal of the share by F2i, also referring to the possible third runway of Peretola airport. “The Board of Directors of Aeroporti Holding, which represents the partners of Sagat, IntesaSanPaolo Group’s Equiter and Tecnoinvestimenti, agreed to adhere to the bid received by Cedicor, considering it interesting. ADF has been for a long time at the centre of a political debate by the Tuscany Region, regarding the building of a new longer runway” declared Mauro Maia, adding that “according to the Region, such runway will be usable only if an agreement between the airports of Pisa and Florence for the development of a joint Tuscan airport system is achieved”. “Cedicor considers to be able to develop such project and, as to what read on the newspapers, it will propose the merge of the two airport companies, after having taken control of them”.

“Hence the offer to our company”, the senior partner of the Fund led by Vito Gamberale, Mauro Maia, concluded.

Who has to fund infrastructure? Mauro Maia (F2i): “New infrastructures have to be funded by the already existing ones”

On the occasion of the Convention organized by Assonime and Adam Smith Society, held in Milan last 2013, June, 3, F2i’s senior partner Mauro Maia presented some key aspects related to the infrastructural development of the Country, retracing the history of major privatizations.

As already argued by F2i’s CEO Vito Gamberale, Mauro Maia underlined the importance of reinvesting in new infrastructures by the sector’s players. Mr Maia actually reminded that “infrastructures generate important profits, with EBITDA margins higher than 50%, which can and have to fund development”. The answer to the question ”who can fund infrastructures today?”, considering the crisis of public finance, is then obvious: new infrastructures have to be funded by those already existing. “Of course, in order for existing infrastructures to fund new works, they have to be of relevant size and not fragmented. To date, instead, the concept of vertical aggregation or of chain within the single sectors has been missing” added Mauro Maia during his intervention.

With regard to the management efficiency of the companies operating in the infrastructural domain, Mr Maia finally stated the importance for each player to get specialized in specific chains or single sectors: “The attempts to aggregate multi-utilities into macro-utilities actually show how the concurrent management of businesses differing from one another heavily affects the efficiency of the services and the accounts of the companies”.