Sale of whole ministry Poste stake cd raise 4.4bn -Giorgetti

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 27 - The sale of the entire stake in Poste Italiane currently held by the economy ministry would raise around 4.4 billion euro, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Wednesday during a parliamentary hearing on the planned part-privatisation of the postal, financial and telecom services company.
    "The resources that can be obtained from the transaction will depend on the amount of the stake that will be placed on the market," Giorgetti told a joint hearing of the Lower House Budget and Transport and Senate Finance committees.
    "If the entire stake held directly by the economy ministry were to be sold, without prejudice to the evaluations that may be made regarding the maintenance of the majority public shareholding in the capital, the value inferred on the basis of the most recent market data available could amount to around 4.4 billion euro," he added.
    Parliament is examining a draft ministerial decree for the part-privatisation of Poste Italiane as part of effort to increase the efficiency of state holdings and raise cash to reduce public debt.
    Giorgetti has said the state is to retain control of Poste Italiane, with a stake of no less than 35%.
    The economy ministry currently holds a 29.26% stake in the company, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti 35% and the treasury 0.82%, to a total of just over 65%, according to the Poste Italiane website.
    "The divestment operation represented in the ministerial decree currently being examined by Parliament must be seen as a framework that identifies a minimum value for the state holding, which can be reached gradually and in stages, so as to safeguard strategic public control over this asset," Giorgetti said.
    "On a more general level, it is also appropriate to consider the effects of the operation on the confidence of domestic and foreign institutional investors towards Italy, which could result in an improvement in the attractiveness of public debt, with consequent positive effects in terms of a reduction in the spread and the cost of debt," he added.
    On the impact of the sale by the economy ministry of part of its stake in Poste Italiane on employment levels, the minister recalled that "the Industrial Plan presented by the company on March 30 does not envisage any negative effect".
    "It will be the government's responsibility to monitor the company's decisions in order to ensure that they are safeguarded," added Giorgetti. (ANSA).