Italy Puts Sales of Eni, Enav Stakes on Hold -Reuters

Italy has suspended a plan to sell stakes in air traffic controller Enav and energy company Eni to Cassa Depositi e Prestiti after European authorities questioned whether it should be shifting assets to a state-controlled entity, Reuters cited sources as saying.

--Last month, the Treasury started the process of offloading shares as part of a privatization plan, with hopes of raising up to 3 billion euros ($3.53 billion) by selling 50.37% of Enav and most of its 4.34% Eni stake, Reuters says. The objective of the program was to reduce public debt.

--European statistics agency Eurostat has raised doubts about such a transaction because Cassa Depositi e Prestiti is publicly owned, and the Bank of Italy suggested that the regulator might not accept that the deal cleans up public finances, the sources said according to Reuters.

Full story: http://reut.rs/2kX6GmT

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December 11, 2017 09:44 ET (14:44 GMT)