MILAN--The head of state financing agency Cassa Depositi e
Prestiti, or CDP, said he isn't interested in defending Italian
ownership of companies in certain sectors of the country's economy,
even though CDP has a separate fund that invests in those deemed to
be of national interest, the Financial Times reports Tuesday.
"I'm not interested in pursuing the defence of Italian ownership
per se," Chief Executive Giovanni Gorno Tempini is quoted as
saying, in an interview with the newspaper.
"That doesn't make sense. Companies and shareholder bases need
to be evaluated on each specific case. There can be good foreign
shareholders and bad Italian shareholders," he says.
CDP's fund, Fondo Strategico Italiano, or FSI, has formed a
consortium to make a bid for Ansaldo Energia, an engineering
services provider for the energy sector that is being sold by
Finmeccanica SpA (FNC.MI), Italy's defense and aerospace group.
The bid would rival one being considered by Germany's Siemens AG
(SIE.XE).
FSI is also preparing to buy Finmeccanica's minority stake in
Avio, a rocket propulsion systems maker whose private equity owner
is considering listing on the Milan exchange while fielding
expressions of interest from a variety of investors.
Newspaper website: www.ft.com
Write to Gilles Castonguay at gilles.castonguay@dowjones.com;
Twitter: @GRCastonguay
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