MSC Acquires 50% Of Italo To Become First Multimodal Operator In Europe
Mediterranean Shipping Company has signed an agreement to acquire half of the Italian high-speed rail company created in 2012 to compete with Italian state railways
MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company), in a $3.2 billion deal, acquired 50% of Italo, an Italian company that has been able to compete with FS (Ferrovie dello Stato) since 2012. The giant, led by Luigi Aponte, has turned to the rail operator to expand activities, from high-speed passenger to freight services, after failing to take a stake in ITA Airways.
Thus was born the first multimodal operator in Europe, combining cruise ships, cargo ships, high-speed trains, and long-distance buses.
MSC, a company based in Geneva, Switzerland, is the world’s leading cargo line management company and one of the largest players in the cruise market. The remaining 50% of Italo stay with the American investment fund GIP (Global Infrastructure Partners), Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Isabella Seragnoli, Alberto Bombassei, and the insurance giant Allianz.
Italo is a company in perfect health: in 2022, it achieved revenues of 700 million and EBITDA of 225 million. The immediate strategy in the near future will be to strengthen the fleet and create an integrated transport network at European level between railways, buses (Italo recently acquired Itabus), and cruise ships. Broadening the time horizon slightly, there is a desire to extend this integration also to logistics and freight transport, through the subsidiary Medway, which operates rail connections between the main Italian ports and the main logistics hubs (it recent acquired 50% of the freight sector Renfe, a Spanish state-owned railway operator), and AlisCargo Airlines, an air transport company in which MSC has a majority stake.