The partial sale of up to 40% of Poste Italiane, Italy's national postal service, is being hailed on Monday by The Financial Times as "the biggest privatisation in more than a decade" - one on which the government of Premier Matteo Renzi has "staked its reputation".
In the article, Poste Italiane CEO Francesco Caio said the privatisation is "very large by Italian standards" and "opens up the privatisation window after a long freeze", adding that it provides "the opportunity and the challenge to show what we are capable of as a company and a country".
On Monday, at the presentation of the IPO, Caio said the privatisation "surely has financial and economic importance, but also has an industrial policy importance and will contribute to the modernisation of the country".
Fabrizio Pagani, head of the office of Italy's Minister of Economy and Finance, called the IPO a "historic privatisation".
"If you believe in the Italian recovery then you have to also believe in Poste, because a great company that represents Italy is going on the stock market," he said.
Caio confirmed Monday that the postal company is taking on 8,000 new workers. "We confirm (the hiring of 8,000 people). It has already started," Caio said. "They are needed to change and reinforce the professional profile of the postal service to better serve the public". As well as running Italy's postal service, Poste Italiane also has a thriving banking arm.
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