will acquire 100% of Novamont, producer of Corriere.it organic bags

Eni is about to take over all of Novamont, in an operation that looks like a return to the origins projected into the future. The group led by Claudio Descalzi announced yesterday that it is in exclusive negotiations in the final phase for the purchase of the entire share package of the company based in Novara, leader in the chemical sector from renewable sources. The subsidiary of the six-legged dog Versalis, already a shareholder with 36% (rising from 25% last year in March through a capital increase of 141 million), will take over the rest of the capital from Mater-Bi spa. The operation – market sources indicate – for the remaining 64% should be worth about half a billion.

This is the heir to the Fertec research center (Ferruzzi Ricerca e Tecnologie) created in 1989 by Montedison with the mission of integrating the chemistry of Montecatini and the agro-industrial skills of the Ferruzzi group. And that Raul Gardini, when Enimont was set up, decided to spin it off and keep it in Montedison. At the time Catia Bastioli was a young researcher. Novamont was born shortly after to sell Fertec’s innovative products, such as the first biodegradable bags made with the Mater-Bi patent. After the incorporation of Fertec in 1991, the new Novamont in 1996 was purchased by private and institutional investors (including Investitori Associati and Banca Commerciale Italiana). Catia Bastioli managing director since the beginning. Matrica was born in 2011, a joint venture with Versalis in Porto Torres (Sassari). While in 2012 the collection of wet waste with Mater-Bi bags in Milan.

Novamont will soon merge into the Eni group. The parties are currently in the drafting of the documentation and the signature is expected within a few weeks. With the transaction, the shareholders of Mater-Bi spa will leave the scene: Investitori Associati II SA and the private equity fund NB Renaissance Partners Holdings Sarl, each with a 34% stake, as well as numerous minority shareholders including Catia itself Bastioli and the Lunelli family of Cantine Ferrari. Novamont, reads the note from Versalis, one of the leading international companies in the field of chemistry from renewable sources, in particular in the field of biodegradable and compostable bioplastics. By integrating all of Novamont — a B Corporation certified benefit company with 650 employees, a turnover of approximately 414 million in 2021 and assets of approximately 1,400 patents and patent applications — Eni takes a significant step in decarbonisation which also includes acceleration in green chemistry .