Astaldi mulls EUR 1.5bn rescue package including EUR 400m capital increase - report
07 OCT 2018
Astaldi [BIT:AST] is considering a EUR 1.5bn rescue package, which would include a EUR 400m capital increase, Italian-language daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported. The unsourced report said that half of the capital increase would come from a partial conversion of Astaldi's EUR 740m 2020 bond and the remainder from the market.
The article also noted that Astaldi would reserve part of the EUR 200m capital earmarked for the markets for a new shareholder.
The article added that the third pillar of the plan is for creditor banks to receive participatory financial instruments in Astaldi for a total of EUR 100m in exchange for cutting the debt burden by 40%. The amount of debt written off would come to EUR 1bn, the item declared.
The article claimed that the most important part of the package is the attraction of a new shareholder. The report added that rival Italian construction group Salini Impregilo [BIT:SAL] is the most likely candidate to take the stake
The item said that Astaldi is working to a tight timetable and will have to put its proposals to its creditors, shareholders and ultimately to the bankruptcy tribunal.
The report said that there is speculation that the capital strengthening will be more contained at EUR 1bn but a large number of observers believed that this would be insufficient to meet Astaldi's needs.