Listen to the audio version of the article
Tax debts of 240 million euros reduced to 71 million – with ten-year installments – saving over 1,200 jobs, continuation of the activity through a newco.
The Court of Turin approved last weekend the restructuring agreements between the Revenue Agency and Customs, on the one hand, and Egea Commerciale Srl and Egea Energie Srl (transferee of the business unit of the former) on the other. At the same time, the Gdf, in the context of the criminal proceedings connected to the old management of the multi-utility of Alba, carried out a preventive seizure of 3.6 million against the former CEO Pier Paolo Carini.
On March 11, Egea had submitted a request for a settlement on the credit claimed by the Revenue Agency (147,899,841 euros) with the obligation to maintain the employment of at least 75 of the employees and the other 1,111 employees in other companies of the Group. The new company, which inherited the debt, accepted and purchased the branch of the company including the tax debt, decimated by tax transactions and subsequent compensations at a rate of 49,354,875 euros, to which should be added any excess of 1.6 million for the Rai license fee debt, already allocated.
40 quarterly installments
The payment was structured in 40 quarterly installments, the first to be paid by December 2024. Among the commitments approved by the court, there is also the constitution of civil party of “Egea commerciale srl” in the criminal proceedings initiated by the Asti prosecutor’s office against the former directors of the company, providing for the pro-quota payment of any recovered amount as compensation.
The approval of the Turin court (president Vittoria Nosengo) on the transaction between Egea and the Customs and Monopolies Agency is completely similar. The credit claimed by Adm as of December 31 was 73,974,077 euros, reduced in the negotiation by up to 31% to 22,469,665 euros. Here too, the first installment is due by December 2024 and then 39 subsequent quarterly installments. Thanks to these two regularly approved transactions, the companies of the Egea Group – assisted by the advisor Giulio Andreani, partner of Pwc Tls – can be transferred to Iren which will continue the activity.
The transactions concluded in this complex restructuring represent well the spirit of the law that introduced the institution of the tax transaction, which has a dual function: to allow the most efficient recovery of the tax credit, given that the satisfaction must be better than the definitive liquidation of the company, and to favor the continuation of the business activity if the conditions exist to continue operating in conditions of economic equilibrium (i.e. avoiding future failures). Only if these effects are produced can the sacrifice that derives to the Treasury from the tax transaction – which in these cases exceeds two thirds of the claim – be justified.
