M & A, Banking and Finance, the transformation of the company into a pure holding company paves the way for possible extraordinary operations
The transformation of Autogrill into a pure holding company, after the effective transfer from January 1 of the Italian, European and services to three new ad hoc companies (next to the already existing fourth, HMS Host, which follows the international and northern business America), paves the way for possible extraordinary operations. Both Mediobanca Securities and Banca Imi pointed this out this morning.
In detail, the first broker confirmed the outperform judgment with a target price of € 12.2, stating: “Nothing is taken for granted, but we believe that a company with only participation functions could be merged more easily with another player”, brokers, “in this regard we recall the recent statements by Eliot’s management that consolidation in catering concessions could be positive because the sector offers economies of scale”.
Furthermore, according to Mediobanca, a transfer of Hms Host and Italian assets is unlikely since the group does not need additional financial resources. “The robust history of returns makes us optimistic about the effects of the transaction,” the broker concluded.
On the same wavelength, Banca Imi (buy and target price estimate of 13.5 euro): “The reorganization launched by Autogrill had already been planned for some time and from this point of view it is not price sensitive news, but in any case we stress the fact that the increase in financial flexibility brought about by the new structure could facilitate new corporate-level operations next year “.
Source Milan Finance
Paola Valentini
December 18, 2017
