Italy: Rai Way to invest $260 million by 2027

Rome: Italian broadcasting towers company Rai Way (RWAY.MI), opens new tab plans to invest 240 million euros (about $260 million) on an organic basis as part of its industrial plan to 2027, it said.

The group sees adjusted core profit (EBITDA) up to 207 million euros, core revenues up to 316 million euros and net profit up to 92 million euros in 2027, with compound annual growth rates of 3.5%, 3.8% and 1.4%, respectively.

That includes its traditional business and diversification initiatives aimed at further development in the medium to long term, the firm said.

“We are striving for a Rai Way that… is bigger, more diversified, with better growth outlooks and more efficient,” the group’s chief executive Roberto Cecatto said in a statement.

The group is assessing a potential merger with rival EI Towers to create a national broadcasting towers champion, a plan that has been on investors’ radar for nearly a decade but has failed to materialise so far.

Some local media reported on Tuesday that Rai Way has mandated Citigroup to evaluate a deal with the company, which is 60%-owned by Italian infrastructure fund F2i, with the remaining 40% held by Italy’s top commercial broadcaster MediaForEurope (MFE) (MFEB.MI), opens new tab.

The deal should be completed by year end and should include the disposal of up to 15% of Rai Way held by the Italian government, daily Il Sole 24 Ore said.

Rai Way on Monday reported core revenues up by 11% year-on-year to 67.8 million euros in the fourth quarter of 2023, and adjusted EBITDA up 18.4% to 41.9 million euros. It pledged to return to investors a dividend of 0.3222 euro per share on its 2023 results.