Italy to sell stakes in eight firms to cut debt

Italy will sell stakes in eight companies including energy giant Eni in a "first packet of privatisations" expected to raise up to 12 billion euros ($16.1 billion), Prime Minister Enrico Letta said on Thursday. The sales are "a first move towards not just keeping the 2014 deficit under control" but also towards cutting Italy's vast public debt "for the first time in five years", Letta said following a cabinet meeting.
The state plans to sell up to 3.0 percent of its stake in Eni, worth two billion euros, while keeping at least 30 percent of the company. Other companies involved in the privatisation drive include shipbuilder Fincantieri, STMicroelectronics and Grandi Stazioni, a member of Italy's railways group, Letta said at a press conference.
The government will cede 60 percent of its stake in export credit agency Sace and Grandi Stazioni, and 40 percent of Fincantieri and air traffic controller Enav.