signed the agreement for the sale to Exor by Cir – Repubblica.it

The agreement for the sale was signed a Exor of the participation of Cir in Gedi, the publishing group to which it belongs Republic, amounting to 43.78%. Exor will therefore take control of the group. This was announced by a joint statement by Cir and Exor published on Monday evening.The sale will take place at the price of € 0.46 per share, higher than the value of the Gedi share closing on Friday 29 November (EUR 0.28), for a total price of 102.4 million euros. The transaction is subject to the release of the necessary authorizations from parts of the antitrust authorities, including the European Commission and the AgCom. The note states that the actual closing of the transaction is expected "within the first four months of 2020".
At the end of the closing, Exor, which will use its own funds for the transaction, will launch a mandatory public tender offer (Opa) on the Gedi shares not already held through a newly established joint stock company. Cir intends to reinvest in the new company, at the value corresponding to the bid price, "by acquiring a 5% stake in Gedi in transparency, in order to accompany the evolution of the publishing company in the coming years. Exor and Cir – we read in the note – they will stipulate some agreements concerning the reinvestment and their participation in the new company, including among other things the right of Cir to be represented on the board of directors of Gedi and the usual agreements concerning restrictions on the disposal of shares ".The President of Cir, Rodolfo De Benedettisaid: "After almost 30 years during which we were controlling shareholders of the Company, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all the women and men who have shared this long journey, which has always seen the group stand for quality of his own journalism, for his ability to innovate and for the far-sightedness and effectiveness of management, which allowed him to become the first newspaper editor in Italy, the leader in digital information, one of the most important publishers in the radio sector and to face with the ability to anticipate and incisiveness the long crisis in the sector We pass the baton to a top-level shareholder, who has been involved in the life of the Company for more than two years, which knows publishing and its challenges, which it has already invested in in recent years and that thanks to its international projection will know how to support the group in the digital transformation process in cu it, like the whole sector, is immersed ".

The President and CEO of Exor, John Elkannstated: "With this operation we are committed to a rigorous business project, to accompany Gedi to face the challenges of the future. In addition to bringing the experience gained in the sector, including internationally, Exor will ensure the stability needed to accelerate the transformation on the technological and organizational level. We are convinced that quality journalism has a great future, if it knows how to combine authority, professionalism and independence with the needs of readers, of today and tomorrow ".

Press release of the Republic's CDR
The Assembly of Republic journalists met yesterday and approved the following motion: "Repubblica journalists are committed to defending the values, history and identity of the newspaper, both during and after the completion of the new ownership structure. They welcome and support the desire expressed by the Director, Carlo Verdelli, to guarantee these values ​​together with the Editorial Staff.

They also reiterate, right now, that they will deem any further intervention on labor costs and employment levels, as well as any changes to the perimeter of the Republic, to be inadmissible ”.

Republic's CDR