Milione Secures €80M EIB Financing to Drive Venice Airport’s Green Transformation

Milione spa, the parent company of SAVE spa, the company that manages Venice Marco Polo Airport, has secured €80 million in financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB), which will support targeted interventions to improve the airport’s energy efficiency and environmental sustainability. The agreement was signed yesterday in Rome by Jean-Christophe Laloux, Director General and Head of EIB Lending and Advisory Operations in the EU, and Giovanni Curtolo, CFO of Milione spa and Save spa.

It should be recalled that Milione had officially passed under the joint control of Ardian and Finint Infrastrutture sgr, a management company controlled by Finanziaria Internazionale Holding sp a, last February, after the announcement of the agreement in October 2025, which followed the exclusive right to negotiate in March 2025.

Milione advances Venice Airport’s sustainability and net-zero ambitions with €80M EIB-backed investment

The transaction was completed together with Sviluppo 87 srl, a company headed by Enrico Marchi, who is both the president of Save and the reference shareholder of Finanziaria Internazionale Holding through the two vehicles Marchi Giovanna & C. spa and Aprile spa. The acquisition vehicle, PhoenixBid spa, is now indirectly held, among others, by Ardian Infrastructure Fund VI and Ardian Infrastructure Fund VI B, Marco Polo Fund (managed by Finint Infrastrutture sgr) and Sviluppo 87.

The transaction saw the exit of the two previous reference shareholders, DWS (through Infra Hub srl) and InfraVia Capital Partners (through Leone Infrastructure srl ), who each sold their 43.99% stake, while Sviluppo 87, which held 12.01%, remained a shareholder, with Enrico Marchi increasing his stake to nearly 50%. All this was based on an equity value between 1 and 1.2 billion euros, which, added to the net financial debt at the end of 2024 (924.1 million), led to an enterprise value of approximately 2.1 billion, against net revenues of 255 million euros and an EBITDA of 128.5 million.

This EIB financing had already been envisaged as part of the complex financial architecture that accompanied the change of control of Milione. The notice of call for Milione’s bondholders, dated January 28th, 2026, aimed at approving the amendments to the terms and conditions of the outstanding €300 million bond, originally issued in December 2018 with a 2.47% coupon and maturing on December 20th, 2026.

These amendments were necessary to implement the deal with Ardian and Finint and without the bondholders exercising the early repayment option associated with the change of control. The agenda items explicitly mentioned consent to a new EIB financing of up to €80 million to finance capital expenditure, alongside a new senior financing agreement of up to €947 million.

The changes to the bond’s terms and conditions were then approved in February by the bondholders’ meeting, which confirmed the new financial structure, which, in addition to the above, also includes a €780 million Equity Bridge Facility and the maintenance of the existing €100 million notes issued through a private placement.

Regarding the characteristics of the €300 million bond, the maturity has been extended to December 20th, 2028, but the bond has also been effectively transformed into a Sustainability-Linked Bond, introducing environmental KPIs, periodic reviews by an independent auditor, ESG certifications, and potential interest rate adjustments if the sustainability targets are not met.

Returning to the details of the EIB financing, it will support an investment program focused on electrifying operations, digitalizing, and strengthening operational resilience, as part of the company’s journey toward net-zero emissions by 2030. The measures include developing low-emission infrastructure, purchasing electric vehicles, upgrading renewable energy infrastructure, and improving IT systems, including cybersecurity.

The program also includes the installation of approximately 500 electric vehicle charging stations and the purchase of over 20 zero-emission electric vehicles, as well as waste management and runoff water treatment measures to reduce the airport’s environmental impact and increase its resilience to extreme weather events. The project will also create approximately 1,000 temporary jobs during the construction phase.

With 11.8 million passengers in 2025, Venice Marco Polo Airport is Italy’s third-largest intercontinental airport and is at the heart of the Northeast Airport Cluster managed by the Save Group. In addition to Venice, the Save Group includes the airports of Verona, Treviso, and Brescia , as well as a stake in Charleroi Airport in Belgium.

The SAVE Group closed its 2025 consolidated financial statements with revenues of 261.5 million euros (from 255.2 million in 2024), an EBITDA of 131.4 million (from 129 million) and a group net profit of 72.1 million (from 73.4 million) against net liquidity of 76.4 million (from 135.5 million).

Jean-Christophe Laloux stated: “Airports are now called upon to accelerate investments to concretely reduce their environmental footprint and strengthen the resilience of their infrastructure. With this financing, the EIB is supporting a transformation process that combines energy efficiency, decarbonization, and innovation, helping to align the sector with European climate objectives.”

Giovanni Curtolo added: “The Save Group’s long-standing commitment places sustainability, in its various forms and forms, at the heart of the operations of Venice Airport and all the airports it manages. This focus on environmental issues, especially significant given the delicate lagoon context in which Venice Airport operates, is reflected in a roadmap that will bring the airport to zero emissions by 2030. At the same time, the airport’s operations, a driving force of the local economy, provide direct, indirect, and induced employment for 24,000 people, generating a GDP of approximately €1.2 billion.”

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(Featured image by Henrique Ferreira via Unsplash)

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First published in Be Beez. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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