Italy's Risanamento settles dispute over Falck area

Italian real estate developer Risanamento said on Monday that it has reached an agreement with smaller peer Milanosesto to settle a legal dispute related to the sale of the Falck industrial site in the San Giovanni district of Milan.

The site, which used to host the Falck steel factory, was sold to Milanosesto in October 2010 but two years later a dispute over the clean-up of the area brought the companies to court.

Under the agreement, Milanosesto will drop a request submitted to a court in Milan seeking the seizure of up to €228 mln in assets belonging to Risanamento and its Immobiliare Cascina Rubina unit. The company also agreed to pay the balance of €60 mln for the site.

In return, Immobiliare Cascina Rubina will pay some €80 mln plus value-added tax in extra costs for the clean-up of the site by the end of September 2018.

Debt-laden Risanamento is in strong need of a capital injection and recently announced it would accept an offer launched by a joint venture of UK investor Chelsfield Partners and the Saudi Olayan Group for its office portfolio in France. The investment volume is expected to be in the region of €1.2 bn.

Earlier this week, US investment group Colony Capital unveiled plans to launch a takeover offer for Risanamento. Oui, a company 70% owned by Colony Capital and 30% by Risanamento's founder Gianni Zunino, plans to offer €0.25 a share for listed shares in the company not held by its creditors.

The bid, representing a 5% premium on the company's share price prior to the announcement, will only go ahead if Risanamento's five creditor banks first accept €0.20 a share for their combined 64% stake in the company.

The creditor banks are IntesaSanpaolo, which alone owns 36%, UniCredit, with 14%, Banco Popolare, Monte dei Paschi di Siena and Banco Popolare di Milano.