NEWS ARCHIVE

IGY Marinas grows in the Mediterranean sea. Supported by Sinloc in operation strategic planning, the international operator has announced having added Porto Cervo to its portfolio of marinas. With this investment IGY acquires its second European marina (Sète, France) and its 19th worldwide. IGY is now managing Porto Cervo including marketing and client support.

Since the launch on 12 December of the first Elite Basket Bond, a simultaneous issue of 10-year bonds involving 10 companies on the Borsa Italiana ELITE platform which supports high growth potential companies, facilitating their access to the capital market, Sinloc has been among its key promoters. Elite and Banca Finint developed a “basket” solution aimed at supporting the growth of companies involved in the programme. Banca Finint, in turn, entrusted Sinloc with the role of monitoring agent. The monitoring agent is responsible for verifying that the issuers maintain an adequate level of solidity and profitability to protect investors throughout the entire duration of the transaction. This control takes the form of a six-monthly review of compliance with certain financial ratios. The Elite Basket Bonds were fully subscribed by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which issued a single type of security. In essence, it carried out a € 122 million securitisation. The transaction involves 10 ELITE companies: Damiano, Irritec, L. Molteni & C. dei F.lli Alitti, M.E.P. Macchine Elettroniche Piegatrici, Objectway Group, Officine Metallurgiche G. Cornaglia, Peuterey, Radio Dimensione Suono, Svas Biosana and Tecnocap. The securitisation’s main investors are the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) which have respectively subscribed 50% and 33% of the total bond issued by the SPV.

A partnership agreement was signed between Sinloc, Fondazione Zancan and Fondazione Volontariato e Partecipazione to offer a broad and multidisciplinary impact assessment service. The service targets foundations, public administration and social enterprises, which are increasingly committed to verifying and measuring the social, economic and environmental impact of their initiatives. The agreement lasts three years and has allowed the creation of a team of experts in which Sinloc’s economic, financial and organizational skills complement those of social science professionals. Impact assessments are useful in providing feedback on the effects of activities carried out, obtaining expert feedback from operators and beneficiaries of the activities to verify and evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the projects, comparing costs incurred against the benefits achieved. In addition, more widespread use of impact assessments, based on consolidated approaches, can also facilitate the transfer of best practices and the planning capacities of both institutions and project promoters.

As a Temporary Consortium in partnership with the law firm Gianni Origoni Grippo Cappelli & Partners, Sinloc has been awarded the contract tendered by the Province of Bergamo for legal, accounting and administrative support services as part of the FABER “Funding Actions in Bergamo for Emission Reductions” project, financed by the ELENA Funds managed by the European Investment Bank. The aim of the project is to improve the energy efficiency of about 450 public buildings in 120 municipalities in the province, about 18,000 lights in 67 municipalities and 5 municipal heating networks. This success adds to Sinloc’s references in the technical advisory field for energy efficiency improvement, raising to 4 the number of projects implemented under the ELENA programme (previous ones being Milan, Chieti and Padua-Rovigo) along with other European projects such as CERTuS (Cost Efficient Options and Financing Mechanisms for nearly Zero Energy Renovation of existing Buildings Stock), FESTA (Fostering Local Energy Investments in the Province of Matera) and other local initiatives such as the AmbientEnergia project in the province of Cuneo.

Sinloc and the Piacentini Costruzioni Group have sold Idroemilia srl to the Alps Energy RE investment fund. Idroemilia is an investment company that deals with the design and construction of hydroelectric power plants and infrastructural works for the conservation of the territory. It owns three hydroelectric plants in Emilia Romagna (two in operation and one licensed) for an installed capacity of about 7.5 MW. Idroemilia has already invested around € 13 million in the area and is currently developing a second module, with additional investments amounting to around € 5 million. Sinloc, an Italian consulting and investment company, has accompanied the growth of the Idroemilia project through financial planning services, identifying and negotiating suitable credit lines and flexibly providing the capital needed for the development phase.

For the construction of the plant, Sinloc and its partners Manutencoop and Siram set up the ISOM Project, a special purpose company to oversee the design, financing, implementation and management of the major redevelopment and energy efficiency improvement project at one of Italy’s largest hospital complexes. The total investment amounted to € 45 million and supported the construction of the largest hospital trigeneration plant – a mega electricity, heat and refrigeration plant – and the requalification and efficiency improvement of its systems. The project has significantly boosted system performance, so much so that the hospital’s energy consumption is expected to drop by about 27%, a major saving of public resources. In terms of polluting emissions, atmospheric emissions of CO2 are expected to be down by around 31%. Practically as if over three thousand boilers had been turned off for a year. This important investment was funded not only from the promoters’ own funds, including Sinloc, but also by structuring and placing the first project bond developed under Italian law. This innovative and complex financial solution was possible thanks in particular to Sinloc’s involvement. The project was the finance category winner of the 2015 CESEF Energy Efficiency Award, took home the Public Heritage Best Practice Award at the 2017 PA Forum and was selected for its good practices at the Paris World Conference on Climate Change.

Sinloc is the winner of the tender for the “Territori Virtuosi” (virtuous territories) project organised by the Cariplo Foundation.   This project aims to stimulate the implementation of efficiency and redevelopment measures through public-private partnerships for the buildings and lighting systems of public and private non-profit organisations. “Territori Virtuosi” has enormous potential in terms of reducing bills for municipalities (on average by over 35%), attracting private capital, reducing public debt and reactivating the construction and systems engineering chain. The successful temporary consortium formed by Sinloc and Studio Gianni Origoni and Grippo Cappelli & Partners and Esco del Sole will provide support to the development and implementation of energy efficiency improvement measures: from preparation of the energy and economic guidelines to the preparation and publication of tender documentation: calls for tenders, letters of invitation to ESCOs, management specifications, etc. Cariplo Foundation’s project will last two years and will start in a matter of days. It involves several Municipalities in Lombardy and the Provinces of Milan, Varese, Cremona, Mantua, consolidating Sinloc’s leadership in this important segment of the infrastructure market that has already seen it play a leading role in projects financed by the EIB in many Italian regions.

Sinloc has supported Leroy Merlin, an international group based in France that operates in the DIY market with over 62 thousand employees and a turnover of 13 billion, to prepare a promoter proposal for submission to the Municipality of Padua to redevelop and manage the Ex Foro Boario area located in Corso Australia for the entire duration of the concession. The project was presented to the Municipality of Padua in November 2016 and is awaiting a statement of public interest so as to subsequently launch the public tender, aimed at identifying the private organisation that will develop the project. The goal is to upgrade the area by building a retail complex (and resulting changes to the road network), due to house a new Leroy Merlin store which will include a fab lab, an area designed for courses where the customers can learn DIY techniques and then purchase the products they need. The project will increase employment by creating new jobs. It will be developed with an expected investment of about € 33 million and a gross floor area of about 32 thousand m2. The project has also involved ZED, a Padua based company that organizes and manages concerts at the Geox theatre, also located in the redevelopment area.

The final presentation of the European CERtuS project (Cost Efficient Options and Financing mechanisms for nearly Zero Energy Renovation of existing Building Stock) was held on Tuesday, 28 February in Palermo at the Palazzo dei Normanni, financed by the Intelligent Energy Europe programme (IEE), which involved public bodies, research institutions, energy service companies, engineering companies and financial companies. Its goal was to identify technical, procedural, contractual and financial strategies and solutions for the energy efficiency improvement of public buildings for their qualification as nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEBs). The project was developed through an international partnership which for Italy involved ENEA (lead partner), the Municipality of Messina, Sinloc, and three Local Authorities (Errenteria, Coimbra and Alimos), a bank and a research centre representing three other European countries (Greece, Spain, and Portugal). Sinloc’s involvement made it possible to define a financial and risk assessment methodology for the projects and identified potential funding instruments for the energy efficiency improvement works.

The investment period of the Jessica Fund in Sicily has been successfully completed. The Fund is a revolving investment fund financed by EU resources that invests in renewable energy and energy efficiency improvement projects for infrastructure and public buildings, managed as a temporary consortium by Sinloc, Iccrea BancaImpresa and BIT S.p.A. The Fund finalised its planned financing and completed its investment programme for a total of approximately € 45 million, with a target percentage of 87% of funds disbursed out of the total Jessica Funds under management (approximately € 52 million). Co-financing of third-party private and public resources amounts to around € 20 million, with investments totalling around € 65 million. The projects financed mainly concern: energy efficiency improvement of hospitals and public lighting systems, combined measures for energy requalification and solar energy generation. Funding was granted to over 15 public beneficiaries (i.e. healthcare companies and municipalities) and private and public companies (mainly) on the basis of tenders or in-house procurement.