There privatization of Rai Way is now underway. A project that began to be talked about last January, when the Rai Board of Directors, under the presidency of Marinella Soldi, gave the green light to the definitive text of the new service contract, shared with the Ministry of Business.
In fact, last May 20th, the Council of Ministers, with a decree, put an end to Rai’s control over Rai Way, the company active in the management and development of transmission networks and radio and television broadcasting for Rai and other broadcasters, listed on the stock exchange, of which the state TV is the majority shareholder and holds control.
The contents of the government Prime Ministerial Decree
The Prime Minister’s decree establishes that Rai will be able to sell a minority stake in Rai Way, with the obligation not to fall below 30% of its shareholdings. The goal is arrive at the merger with Ei Towersan Italian joint-stock company, owner of the network infrastructure necessary for the diffusion and transmission of the Mediaset group’s signal.
The government provision, in fact, specifies that in the reduction of participation “priority is given, where compatible and in compliance” with the reference regulations, to “operations functional to ensure aggregation between entities in the same sector”. All possible transactions involving the sale of minority shares “can therefore only take place if they are consistent and compatible” with these purposes.
It is good to remember that Rai currently holds 64.97% of Rai Way. Already in 2022, the Draghi Government had issued a similar Prime Ministerial Decree which authorized Rai to decrease up to 30%, but with certain conditions including: “In the event of extraordinary operations, Rai spa ensures the definition of appropriate management and governance agreements, and in order to guarantee the maximum diffusion of the shareholding structure, the maintenance of the listing of the shares of Rai Way or of the company resulting from the operation must be ensured”.
Privatization, repeatedly hoped for by Pier Silvio Berlusconifollowing this intervention by the current executive, it is a done deal.
Gesmundo, CGIL: a favor to private entities
“This sale has different characteristics from Poste Italiane and Eni, and perhaps even worse. With one thing in common: a favor to private individuals who will benefit from these choices.” For the CGIL confederal secretary Pino Gesmundoafter the government’s “ideological choice to cut the Rai license fee, it finds itself in the position of having to recover money to try to win the challenge of digital innovation, preparing an industrial plan that transforms Rai into a digital company to try to respond to the approval of theEuropean media freedom act. It’s a shame that Rai will not be able to respond to the guarantees requested by Europe, thus risking being excluded from the future scenarios of European companies”.
In short, fusion is “theyet another gift to the private individual which characterized the Italian television duopoly. In fact, Ei Towers is heavily indebted (over 700 million), unlike Rai Way, and with the merger the shareholders will dilute the debt in the new company. At the same time they will obtain the guarantee of certain revenues deriving from the payment of Rai for the transmission of the signal. In short, a great gift to Mediaset.”
Saccone, Slc: mere operation to raise cash
“The peculiarity of the decree, net of the decision to sell the majority share of one of the last jewels in the hands of Rai, lies in the binding direction of the sales method that the same decree imposes”, he explains Riccardo Sacconenew general secretary of Slc Cgil.
“In fact, a targeted sale is expected to institutional investors who will have to favor the merger with Ei Towers, the tower company held by the F2I Fund which, in turn, purchased it from the Mediaset group”, continues the union representative: “A’executive interference which occurred following a resolution of the Rai Board of Directors, which will also favor the funds economically since, if the placement had taken place through a public auction, they would have had to repurchase the shares from the market”.
Saccone highlights that this choice “raises perplexity as Rai Way has for years simultaneously launched an industrial reconversion plan through investments for the creation of modern network infrastructures (such as the Edge data center) intended for both content operators and the public administration, useful for contributing to the modernization of the country and to favor new digital transmission services: which is why we are concerned about the vision of those who have decided to relegate it to the sole role of broadcast operator. In short, an incomprehensible reverse.”
The aim, on paper, is “to encourage the birth of a national championand controlled by the public, which, pending the duty to ensure an efficient service open to all public and private operators, can also favor economies of scale capable of rationalizing costs, without penalizing investments”.
An objective “also acceptable, if the absence of an industrial plan capable of encouraging the merger of the two companies did not reduce the sale of Rai Way to a mere cash-raising operation and give a breath of fresh air to the Rai coffers which, of course, are not experiencing a particularly prosperous moment”.
To these questions, Saccone adds others, no less important:
- If, as has emerged from numerous press outlets, this choice was guided by international funds rather interested in this dossier, are we sure that this is the best choice for national interests?
- If the newly established towers new-co remained listed, therefore bound to produce dividends for the funds (as reported in the press), we are certain that this would lead to investments in line with the pastenough to bring development to the country’s public and private broadcasting?
- When the sale takes place, i workers of Rai Way If they wanted to, will they have the opportunity to remain in Rai or will they be forced to follow the towers?
The general secretary of Slc Cgil concludes: “To all these questions we hope that the executive will want to respondafter having repeatedly and culpably evaded it, even if, in the first instance, the answer lies with the Board of Directors, which, although placed under commissioners by the Prime Ministerial Decree, will still have to authorize the sale of the Rai Way share”.
