Snam-Terna Merger Wouldn’t Create Synergies, Eni’s Recchi Says

A merger of Snam SpA (SRG) with Italian power-grid operator Terna Rete Elettrica Nazionale SpA (TRN) would not create “synergies,” Eni Chairman Giuseppe Recchi said.

“I don’t think that a merger of Snam and Terna would be the best way to create synergies, even if it’s up to the government to decide,” Recchi told reporters today at a conference in Cernobbio, Italy.

Recchi added that advisers have not yet been appointed on the sale of Eni’s stake in gas transporter Snam, as Eni is awaiting the government’s expected decree on the separation. The Italian government is seeking to improve competition in the energy industry by having Eni sell Snam by September 2013.

Eni, Italy’s largest oil company, owns 50.03 percent of Snam, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sonia Sirletti in Milan at ssirletti@bloomberg.net; Chiara Vasarri in Milan at cvasarri@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Davis at abdavis@bloomberg.net