Fincantieri in Talks to Buy Leonardo's Submarine Unit Wass
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri is in talks with Leonardo to buy the defense group's submarine unit Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei (Wass), several newspapers reported on Wednesday.Spokespersons for Fincantieri and Leonardo both declined to comment.The acquisition would have a value of between 200 and 300 million euros ($217-$326 million), Corriere della Sera and financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported.The move by Fincantieri would be part of the group's broader strategy to grow non-organically and focus more on the defence sector…
Fincantieri, MERMEC Make Joint Offer for Vitrociset
Italian shipbuilding group Fincantieri and engineering group MERMEC have presented a joint offer for technology group Vitrociset, a source close to the matter said on Tuesday, adding that a potential deal could be struck in the near term.News of the offer for Vitrociset, which provides products, systems and services for the defence, security, space and transport markets, were first reported by financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore.No financial details of the deal were known.The three companies declined to comment.(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin, writing by Agnieszka Flak, editing by Paola Arosio)
Snam in Talks to Buy LNG Terminal Stake from Edison
Italian gas group Snam is in exclusive talks with EDF's Italian unit Edison to buy a stake in a liquefied natural gas terminal in northern Italy as part of plans to develop its LNG business, two sources said. Snam, controlled by state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, is looking to buy Edison's 7.3 percent stake in Terminale LNG Adriatico and the gas pipeline that connects it to Italy's gas transmission backbone, the sources said. Adriatic LNG, which has a capacity of 8 billion cubic metres per year, is 70.7 percent owned by ExxonMobil and 22 percent by Qatar Petroleum.
Zipponi Supports Merge
According to www.euro2day.gr, reformed communist politician and parliament member Maurizio Zipponi has proposed to the Italian government a merger of Fincantieri SpA and Aker Yards ASA in a move aimed at blocking Korea's STX Shipbuilding, which recently bought a major stake in the Norwegian shipyard, Il Sole 24 Ore said, citing Zipponi. On Oct 23, STX said it bought a 39.2 pct stake mln in Aker Yards, becoming the company''s largest shareholder. Since then, Aker Yards management has sought ways to defend itself from the Korean company and hired Arctic Securities and JP Morgan to examine "strategic alternatives", including the possible entrance of other European companies into its share capital, Il.
Snam RG's Plans LNG Terminal Upgrade
Snam Rete Gas SpA's plans to upgrade capacity at its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Panigaglia will cost $638.9m-710.3m, Il Sole 24 Ore said, without citing any sources. Snam intends to expand capacity at the terminal from the current 3.5 bln cubic metres of gas per year to 8.0 bln. The Liguria Region recently declined to give environmental clearance under current conditions to the project which was officially presented this June. The newspaper said the process to obtain the necessary permit is expected to take time. [Source: Thomson Financial]
