Eni, agreement with Ares to negotiate the sale of 20% of Plenitude

The race for the sale of a 20% stake in Plenitude, Eni's benefit company, is narrowing. The group led by Claudio Descalzi announced that it has signed a temporary exclusive agreement with Ares Alternative Credit Management, a global investment fund, to negotiate an agreement and the subsequent finalisation of the sale of a 20% stake on the basis of an equity value of the company of between EUR 9.8 billion and EUR 10.2 billion, which corresponds to an enterprise value - an overall range that also includes debt - of over EUR 12 billion.

As is well known, the agreement announced today follows, as explained by the group itself, "an articulated selection among several internationally important players" that have shown interest in the company, thus confirming the great attractiveness of the satellite model chosen by Eni to enhance businesses related to energy transition and attract new investors in order to recover further support for their growth plans.

In recent weeks, it was Eni's chief Transition & Financial officer, Francesco Gattei, who confirmed that negotiations were underway for the sale of 15-20% of Plenitude in a process in which several parties were in the running. Alongside Ares, Stonepeak and Apollo Global were also in the running, but in the end the choice would fall on the first fund, which will now have to close the circle around the possible acquisition.

The potential entry of Ares into the capital of Plenitude, if the process goes through, would thus add to the presence of Energy Infrastructure Partners that, in two steps, has come to hold 10% of the shareholding of Eni's subsidiary. As it will be recalled, in fact, Eip signed an agreement with Eni and Plenitude in December 2023 to enter into the capital through a capital increase of up to EUR 700 million so as to control, downstream of the transaction, around 9% of Plenitude. Then, in November 2024, a further step, again through a capital increase, brought Eip to hold 10% of the company's capital.