23. Business combinations

On 1 April 2015, the acquisition from Acam of a 51% stake in Acam Gas was completed, for a price of €46 million. By means of this transaction, Italgas, which already held 49% of Acam Gas, acquired the company’s entire share capital, further consolidating its gas distribution activities within the minimum geographical area (ATEM) of La Spezia.

As of 1 April 2015, Acam Gas, classified until 31 March 2015 as a joint venture and valued using the equity method, has been fully consolidated in accordance with IFRS 10 – “Consolidated financial statements”. The acquisition of control over Acam Gas represents a “business combination”, reported in accordance with IFRS 3 – “Business combinations”. To this end, at the date of acquisition of control, the following steps were taken: (i) adjustment of the value of the equity investment previously held (equivalent to 49%) to the related fair value, attributing the difference with respect to the previous book value⁴⁰ to the income statement (€1 million); and (ii) recognition of the individual assets and liabilities acquired at the related fair value, recognising the difference between the fair value of the net assets acquired and the cost of the business combination in the income statement (€8 million).

The accounting effects of the business combination, pursuant to IFRS 3, were redetermined in respect of the previous allocation in response to the update to the 2014 RAB estimate. These updates resulted in the restatement of the opening balances at the date of acquisition of control, as follows:

The key values for the assets and liabilities of Acam Gas are as follows: