Italy's biggest construction group, Webuild, has completed the acquisition of its 65% stake in Astaldi, a fellow Italian construction company which was recently on the brink of bankruptcy, in a deal worth €225 million.
Webuild
The acquisition will establish Webuild - formerly called Salini Impregilo - as a major global player in the construction sector, with a backlog of orders totalling at over €40 billion.
Webuild first put its acquisition offer to Astaldi in February 2019. At that time, Astaldi was in the process of securing protection from its creditors so it could buy time to restructure. The embattled construction firm then submitted Webuild's offer to the Court of Rome for approval.
The deal, which was accepted by Astaldi shareholders, creditors and the courts, saw the liquidation of some of the company's non-core assets in order to pay off some debts to creditors. The shedding off these assets also allowed Webuild to take a controlling share in Astaldi without inheriting its debts.
These assets included its stake in the Gebze-Orhangazi-Izmir highway, and Etlik health campus, both in Turkey, and the Santiago airport and Felix Bulnes hospital in Chile.
According to Webuild's own data, the construction sector represents 8% of Italy's economy and employs half a million people. The company said that the investment will bring it “closer to what its foreign competitors enjoy: a strong presence in their home markets”.
The Astaldi acquisition was part of the 'Project Italy' plan, launched by Salini Impregilo in 2019. The aim of the project is to aid in the revival of the Italian construction industry through the creation of a single major construction hub.
Astaldi, which has completed major projects worldwide such as the Yavuz Sultan bridge over the Bosphorus in Istanbul, and the world’s largest optical telescope - the ELT - in Chile, is one of three companies acquired by Webuild as part of Project Italy.
As part of the project, Webuild is now in the process of taking control of Seli Overseas SpA and Grandi Lavori Srl, which owns GLF Construction (USA).
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