Italy's Acinque utility aims to grow via regional M&A deals

By Giancarlo Navach

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian regional utility Acinque aims to grow by acquiring other peers and sees opportunities to boost its client base from the end of the regulated price market due next year, its CEO told Reuters on Monday.

Acinque is based in Lombardy, Italy's wealthy northern region, particularly in the provinces north-west of Milan. It is 41.3% owned by Italy's largest regional utility A2A, while local authorities have a stake of around 48.5%.

The Milan-listed company has recently acquired 70% of multi-utility Agesp Energia, which will boost its client base to an overall 340,000 approximately.

"We work on territories that present many opportunities", said Chief Executive Stefano Cetti pointing to the Lombardy provinces of Monza, Como, Lecco, Varese and Sondrio.

"This is the real added value", he said, adding that having a larger industrial partner such as A2A allows Acinque to pursue interesting market opportunities.

Acinque will unveil its business plan to 2028 by the end of the year, Cetti said.

The CEO said there were no "open" M&A dossiers at the moment and that potential targets have to operate in Acinque's geographical proximity so to implement operational synergies.

However, Acinque sees further room for expansion thanks to end of Italy's regulated prices for gas and electricity, expected in January and April respectively, although the government may extend the deadline by a few months.

The end of regulated prices, currently applied to a sizeable minority of consumers, is expected to increase competition for household energy supplies.

(Reporting by Giancarlo Navach, writing by Federico Maccioni, editing by Alvise Armellini)