AGCM

PRESS RELEASE

Construction sector: Antitrust Authority closes its investigation,

no restrictive agreement between Salini and Impregilo

The agreement of 27^th September 2012, designed to launch a strategic partnership between the two companies, represented the preliminary stage of a process that later led to the acquisition of Impregilo by Salini.

There are no grounds on which to charge Salini Costruttori and Impregilo with having implemented an agreement to restrict competition. This was decided by the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato at its meeting held on 03^rd July 2013 and in this way brought to a close the investigation started in October of the previous year to examine any possible restrictive effects of the strategic Agreement that was signed between the two companies to participate in tenders for the implementation of major projects.

According to the Antitrust Authority, the Agreement which was concluded between independent companies at the time that the investigation got under way, should be assessed in the light of the subsequent acquisition of Impregilo by Salini: in this context the Agreement itself can be considered as a preliminary phase of the acquisition process and has no significance of any relevance for antitrust purposes.

Moreover, the investigation that was conducted made it possible to establish that the agreement was aimed at achieving operational synergy, especially in international calls for tenders where the companies Salini and Impregilo have to face large firms that operate world-wide. In fact, during its first phase the Agreement referred almost entirely to international projects.

Rome, 16^th July 2013