(Updates with Hera comments on alliances)
MILAN (Thomson Financial) - The mayor of Bologna Sergio Cofferati said the
election of Gianni Alemanno as mayor of Rome does not change the consolidation
scenario for local utility Hera SpA.
"We are convinced that for an industrial plan the political colour of the
mayor is not what counts," Cofferati said.
The Bologna city government is the largest shareholder in Hera while the
Rome city government owns 51 percent of Acea SpA.
The shareholder pact of Hera has given company management a mandate to
explore tie-ups with other local utilities, including Iride SpA and Acea.
Newspaper reports have said the election of a centre-right mayor at Rome
could interfere with plans to tie up with Hera and Iride whose mayors are from
the centre-left.
Cofferati said the aim still remains to create the biggest multi-utility in
Italy.
Speaking at the annual shareholders meeting in Rome, the chairman of Acea
Fabiano Fabiani said Acea "remains open to consider any eventual opportunities
in the utility sector" but added that there is no hurry.
"If the group has been able to achieve growth and results without other
alliances or integration, this presumed isolation has hardly done us any harm,"
he said.
Separately, Hera's chairman Tomaso Tommasi di Vignano said that he hopes
that a meeting scheduled by mid-May with other utility companies to discuss
alliances will be conclusive.
philip.webster@thomsonreuters.com
sj/slm/pw/sal
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