Shareholder CDP Offers to Invest €380M in Ansaldo Energia With Further €50M Commitment; Ongoing Discussions on RCF Amend & Extend

Ansaldo Energia’s main shareholder Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) has formally offered to invest €380 million in the Italian power engineering group as part of the company’s equity raise and amend-and-extend deal, sources close told Reorg. CDP has also committed to invest a further €50 million in the company, subject to certain conditions.

Despite some Covid-19-related disruptions, negotiations are ongoing and all the parties involved are aiming to finalize the deal by the end of March, sources added. Ansaldo’s €260 million 2.875% bond matures on April 28.

State-owned lender CDP holds a 60% shareholding. The position of the other shareholder, Shanghai Electric, which owns the company’s 40% stake, remains unclear. Ansaldo is also working on the sale of some of its assets, including the U.S. subsidiary, Psm.

Discussions on the company’s €360 million revolving credit facility, of which €285 million is outstanding, are ongoing, sources said. Bank lenders are working on either repackaging their existing facilities or on an amend-and-extend of the RCF. Ansaldo’s other €375 million bond is due May 31, 2024.

The company and its lenders are also discussing the need for about €400 million to €440 million of new bonding lines to support its new industrial plan. Ansaldo has about €1 billion of bonding lines, as reported.

Ansaldo Energia’s banks have hired PJT Partners and Clifford Chance as their financial and legal advisors for the debt talks. The company is working with Vitale & Co as its financial advisor and Chiomenti and Andrea Zoppini as legal advisors.

On Feb. 25, blocks of Ansaldo Energia’s €360 million RCF were offered in the 35 to 40 context, but no trades have taken place so far. In January, two international lenders tried to sell their positions in the company’s revolver in the 70 to 80 range. The same facility was offered in the 90s in November last year.

On Feb. 5, Ansaldo Energia’s board approved the company’s business plan focusing on cost reduction, the rationalization of stakes in several subsidiaries, the sale of some assets, and a “rebalancing of its capital structure,” as reported.

Regarding asset sales, Mubadala, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund which invested in Piaggio Aerospace, might be interested in acquiring Ansaldo’s U.S. subsidiary Psm for about €150 million, Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera reported.
 

--Luca Rossi