By Francesca Landini and Alessandro Parodi
(Reuters) -Italian energy company Eni has broadened the powers of its finance chief as part of a sweeping business reorganisation unveiled on Thursday, giving him responsibility to oversee its Enilive and Plenitude energy transition units.
The group said it approved a new business structure aimed at developing its main units, accelerating an overhaul of its loss-making chemicals business and integrating its upstream and trading activities.
With the move, Eni will reorganise under three areas, each led by a chief operating officer (COO) who will report to the group’s Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi.
Chief Financial Officer Francesco Gattei, who already takes the lead role in meetings and calls with financial analysts when Descalzi is away, will head the new Transition and Financial division, expanding his role outside his core finance area.
The division will be responsible for Eni’s economic and financial strategy and also supervise the development of Plenitude and Enilive.
Gattei will also assume the role of chief transition and general manager.
COO Guido Brusco will lead the renamed Global Natural Resources structure, which will also include the group’s power generation and marketing and oil trading activities.
COO Giuseppe Ricci will manage the Industrial Transformation structure and will focus on restructuring Eni’s Versalis chemical business, its downstream refining business and the Eni Rewind remediation business, the group said.
One of the goals of the new structure is to unlock the value of some of the group’s “satellite” companies – including Plenitude and Enilive – via the entry of new partners and future public listings, Eni said.
The Italian group is currently in talks with U.S. investment company KKR to sell up to 25% of Enilive while it has partnered with Swiss asset manager Energy Infrastructure Partners to jointly grow Plenitude ahead of a potential initial public offering in the coming years.
Eni has a so-called satellite strategy under which it develops separate entities focused on specific businesses and prods them to become financially independent.
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi and Francesca Landini; editing by Gavin Jones, Jane Merriman and Paul Simao)
