The signed agreement provides for the acquisition of a majority stake in BuT, a company active in logistics for white and grey bulk materials (fertilizers, iron minerals, sodium carbonate, and bulk goods for agricultural and industrial use). BuT has several decades of experience in handling cargo primarily destined for the markets of Northern and Northwestern Italy.

The Savona terminal will be added to the 9 terminals already managed by FHP in the ports of Carrara, Livorno, Monfalcone, Marghera and Chioggia and the 4 land terminals (Fiorenzuola d’Arda, Incoronata, Piedimonte San Germano and Villa Selva) already in operation for the Group’s rail intermodal activities.

Each year, FHP handles around 10 million tons of cargo through its ports and, with a fleet of 40 locomotives and 1,240 railway wagons, covers more than 6 million kilometers across Europe by rail.

Il closing dell’operazione è previsto per la fine di ottobre al termine della procedura di Golden Power e delle autorizzazioni di competenza dell’Autorità Portuale del Mar Ligure Occidentale.

Statement by Paolo Cornetto, CEO of FHP GROUP: ”The company of which we are acquiring a controlling stake will increase the Group’s offering and competitiveness through access to docks with excellent draughts, good indoor storage capacity, and optimal access to highways and railways, making it ideally positioned to serve the markets of the Northwest regions. In addition, BuT’s shareholders and management have an excellent reputation and solid know-how in the industry, and have always distinguished themselves for their attention to service and the pursuit of added value for their customers through activities such as, for example, the packaging and bagging of fertilizers carried out using modern and highly efficient equipment”.

Statement by Gerardo Ghiliotto, CEO and founder of BuT: “We have wholeheartedly embraced the FHP project, which is based on a long-term industrial strategy and will be able to benefit our business, our current and potential customers and the outlook for our terminal. We are keeping a stake in the company that is not just a shareholding but also and especially a mark of our full identification with and participation in the project. The choice was made easier by having the same vision as the shareholder and management of FHP to whom I am bound by a longstanding relationship of friendship, respect and common values. The new business model we have implemented at BuT in recent years can only be strengthened, and important new synergies will be found for the successful consolidation of our activities and future long-term growth”

FHP Group and BuT were respectively assisted by FHP’s in-house legal team, led by the company’s Group General Counsel, and by the legal and financial advisors Cleary Gottlieb and Prothea for FHP, and Pedersoli Gattai, VSL Club, and Studio Murialdo for BuT.

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