by Francesco Ingardia
The tendency of Roman politics to jump on the winners’ bandwagon, typical of the Second Republic, was glimpsed against the light, in these latitudes, at the end of the Alia Multiutility shareholders’ meeting two days ago in Prato. And yesterday, in the control and environment commission meeting jointly in Palazzo Vecchio. The leading actor remained the Participates councilor Giovanni Bettarini. The operational arm of the mayor Funaro. Because at Estra‘s house he illustrated to the board of directors the “most balanced document of all” on strategic policy documents, voted by 81.5% of the share capital. The result of compromises, refinements, imperative balancing to “unitarily” match the sounds of the mayors (along the Florence-Prato-Empoli axis) to the wishes of the Democratic Party. And the work of ‘checks and balances’ finds its highest form in point number 8 of the document. The one relating to the listing of the industrial group on Piazza Affari.
Textually, the board of directors was asked to “explicit the different financing options alternative to the stock market for the achievement of the investment objectives set out in the industrial plan (…) with all possible tools. From social loans to popular share ownership “. Explicit, not prefer, lean, indicate, favor. The interpretation operation starts here. Thus the Funaro-Bugetti-Mantellasi triumvirate has given a blow to the circle to protect the constituent system of the multi-services, without taking categorical positions, without (deliberately) abolishing the Stock Exchange chapter. Just enough to ask management to put the options on the table, the “alternative” paths that can be taken. Bank loan, green bond, shareholding. All it takes is for the agenda of the next shareholders’ meeting to include a concrete report with which to measure the feasibility of the industrial plan to finance the investments. But the blow was also given to the barrel. The Tuscan secretary of the dem Fossi is delighted by the sign of “political maturation” given by the mayors, posthumously at Monday’s summit in via Forlanini: “The phase is completely changing on the Multiutility. The document voted by a very large majority effectively archives the listing on the stock exchange” . The opposite of the “no still too weak” lamented by the mayor of Vicchio Francesco Tagliaferri. Bettarini’s pragmatism says otherwise, however: “The position of the mayor of Sesto Falchi on the stock exchange was more incisive than ours – admits the councilor in the commission -. Ours has the virtue of better keeping together the safeguarding of the path taken so far with the new political needs that emerged”. And that is the reformist imprinting 1.0 by Nardella-Biffoni with Irace as CEO to get investments off the ground quickly through the listing, together with the guidelines of Fossi’s PD secretariat, to put behind us a summer of friction, rifts and stitching.
The proof again? “The company was established thinking that dimensionally it could access the stock exchange market to have more quantities in a short time – recalls Bettarini -. This process will have to be reviewed. Many companies are financed with the classic forms. It depends on how much you need to invest”. And on this, the president of Alia Lorenzo Perra could say something, in the commission on October 31st.
