Selling stake: Italy values post office at €8.8b
The post office sale could bring in as much as €3.36 billion for the government
ROME:
Italy revealed Friday the price for a partial privatisation of the post office, which values the business at €8.8 billion ($9.7 billion) and delivers a boost to debt-laden state coffers. Describing it as the biggest privatisation in Europe this year, Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan hailed the “success” of the initial public offering and said it was proof of people’s confidence in the post office’s plans and in the government’s economic strategy. “Resources obtained will go to bringing down public debt,” the minister said. The post office sale could bring in as much as €3.36 billion for the government but is unlikely to make a big dent in the country’s debt, which stands at €2.2 trillion.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 24th, 2015.
Italy revealed Friday the price for a partial privatisation of the post office, which values the business at €8.8 billion ($9.7 billion) and delivers a boost to debt-laden state coffers. Describing it as the biggest privatisation in Europe this year, Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan hailed the “success” of the initial public offering and said it was proof of people’s confidence in the post office’s plans and in the government’s economic strategy. “Resources obtained will go to bringing down public debt,” the minister said. The post office sale could bring in as much as €3.36 billion for the government but is unlikely to make a big dent in the country’s debt, which stands at €2.2 trillion.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 24th, 2015.