Italgas S.p.A. is an Italian company specialised in the distribution of natural gas. It is listed on the

Milan Stock Exchange Borsa Italiana, based in Milan, is the Italian stock exchange. It manages and organises domestic market, regulating procedures for admission and listing of companies and intermediaries and supervising disclosures for listed companies.italy24.ils ...

and included in the

FTSE MIB The FTSE MIB (Milano Indice di Borsa) (the S&P/MIB prior to June 2009) is the benchmark stock market index for the Borsa Italiana, the Italian national stock exchange, which superseded the MIB-30 in September 2004. The index consists of the 40 mo ...

index.

History

The company was founded in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

in 1837 under the name ''Compagnia di Illuminazione a Gaz per la Città di Torino'' (City of Turin Gas Lighting Company) and later changed its name several times, first becoming ''Società Italiana per il Gas'' (Italian Gas Company) and then Italgas S.p.A. Catholic financiers, led by Bernardino Nogara, took an interest in Italgas during the years leading up to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Among the company's chairmen was lawyer and entrepreneur Rinaldo Panzarasa. In 1967 control of the company passed to

Snam Snam S.p.A. is an Italian energy infrastructure company. As of 31 December 2019, it had a market capitalization of €15.4 billion. Snam was originally a subsidiary of Italian energy company Eni. It has since become an independent company, who ...

, a member of the

Eni Eni S.p.A. () is an Italian multinational energy company headquartered in Rome. Considered one of the seven "supermajor" oil companies in the world, it has operations in 69 countries with a market capitalization of US$54.08 billion, as of 11 Ap ...

Group. Under chairman Carlo Da Molo, Italgas undertook an extensive campaign to build methane distribution infrastructure, expanding considerably in Central and Southern Italy. In addition to strengthening its presence in the natural gas sector, the company also expanded its operations in the complete potable water cycle and entered the solid urban waste management business. However, these businesses were later discontinued, allowing Italgas to focus on its core natural gas business.

De-listing

On 7 February 2003

launched a

public takeover bid In corporate finance, a tender offer is a type of public takeover bid. The tender offer is a public, open offer or invitation (usually announced in a newspaper advertisement) by a prospective acquirer to all stockholders of a publicly traded cor ...

, resulting in the acquisition of all outstanding shares, and thus in the de-listing of the company. In 2009 Eni sold the company to its subsidiary Snam Rete Gas, which in 2012 became

Legal investigations

In July 2014 the company was placed under administration by commissioners due to dealings with various suppliers also subject to administration as a result of mafia infiltration. The investigations conducted by the authorities and the pro-active collaboration of the parent company, Snam, allowed the Court of Palermo to rescind the order in July 2015.

Return to the stock exchange

On 7 November 2016, after 13 years of absence, Italgas S.p.A. made its return to the stock exchange following the partial proportional de-merger of Snam, which involved the transfer of 86.5% of the equity interest held in Italgas Reti S.p.A. to the shareholders, at one Italgas share assigned to each five Snam shares held. A new board of directors was appointed on 4 April 2019, with university lecturer Alberto Dell'Acqua as the new chairman.

Major shareholders

CDP Reti CDP Reti S.p.A. is an Italian holding company. It is a joint venture of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, State Grid Corporation of China and other investors. The company owned 28.98% shares of Snam and 29.85% shares of Terna, as the largest shareholde ...

S.p.A. – 26.05% *

S.p.A. – 13.5% *

Lazard Asset Management Lazard Ltd (formerly known as Lazard Frères & Co.) is a financial advisory and asset management firm that engages in investment banking, asset management and other financial services, primarily with institutional clients. It is the world's ...

LLC – 8.6% * Romano Minozzi – 4.29% *

BlackRock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a Enterprise risk management, risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackR ...

– 4.8% * Other shareholders – 42.7%

Business operations

Over time Italgas S.p.A. has expanded its operations from Turin to the rest of Italy to cover over 35% of the market (2020), with concessions in approximately 1,800 municipalities, including some of the largest, such as Rome, managed directly or through its subsidiaries. In 2021 Italgas bought DEPA infrastructure the company responsible for the gas distribution in Greece from

DEPA Public Gas Corporation of Greece A.E. (DEPA; el, Δημόσια Επιχείρηση Αερίου (ΔΕΠΑ) Α.Ε.) commonly known for its Greek abbreviation DEPA ( el, ΔΕΠΑ, translit=DEPA) is the natural gas supply company of Greece. The r ...

for the sum of 733 million euros.

Group structure

Gas

* Italgas Reti (100%) ** Medea (51.85%) * Metano Sant'Angelo Lodigiano (50%) * Toscana Energia (50.66%) ** Toscana Energia Green (100%) * Umbria Distribuzione Gas (45%) * Gaxa (51.85%)

Water

* Italgas Acqua (100%)

Energy Efficiency

* Seaside (100%)

Museum

In 1994, after years of research and selection in its archives beginning in the Eighties, to commemorate 150 years in business Italgas created an historical archive and museum in Turin to store documents, volumes, pamphlets and advertisements of historical interest. Tools and equipment are displayed alongside paper documents to present natural gas technology from its origins.

References

{{Authority control 1837 establishments in Italy