MILAN, April 9, 2020 – Salini Impregilo Group (Webuild) welcomes with satisfaction the positive result of the vote cast by Astaldi creditors at a meeting held today, with 58.3% of the creditors taking part, on the proposal involving the company as a direct going concern. The result of the vote will lead to an acceleration of the final phase of the acquisition of Astaldi as part of Progetto Italia, the plan by Salini Impregilo to consolidate and create a bigger player in the Italian infrastructure sector – Webuild. The plan has also seen support from and the entry into its capital by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) and the main financial institutions of the country (Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit and Banco BPM).

“This is a historic operation performed at the level of the national system, thanks to the support of all the players involved – CDP and the financial institutions in particular – to create the Webuild Group in order to look with confidence towards the future of Italy and plan with courage new employment in the infrastructure sector, which represents about 8 percent of the national GDP,” said Pietro Salini, Chief Executive of Salini Impregilo. “The country has shown a great amount of unity and a strong sense of responsibility to reach a common objective: revive the entire sector in Italy, working together to create job opportunities for the young, especially in southern Italy, and protecting workers who in many instances represent excellence in their fields at a global level. Now we have to roll up our sleeves and get projects up and running again. What we need is a commitment at the national level to bring back on its feet a sector that is losing against international competition but poses as a great growth opportunity that can immediately create work in Italy.”

The Webuild Group, the result of the plan to takeover Astaldi, will have 70,000 direct and indirect workers at the global level, that will reach about 130,000 when taking into account the entire supply chain. Just in Italy, employment at Webuild after the takeover of Astaldi will reach 11,000 direct and indirect employees, with a total of about 25,000 people employed when considering the entire supply chain.

Progetto Italia, in addition to creating value for shareholders, will value Italian know-how and create growth opportunities for small- and medium-sized Italian businesses along the supply chain in the construction sector: Salini Impregilo and Astaldi alone in Italy have made orders for about €1.3 billion in 2018-2019, and Salini Impregilo alone worked in 2019 with more than 1,500 companies, 90% of which of small- and medium-size.

The convergence of interests for the recovery of the sector at the level of the national system could lead to the unblocking of €36 billion of infrastructure works that are currently stalled, creating another boost to employment and local economies. Among the projects to unblock are some that are ready to start in 2020 for a value of about €30 billion to which are linked an estimated 37,500 new jobs. Many of these would be in southern Italy. These urgently needed infrastructure projects can play an anti-cyclical role.