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May 04, 2020

Salini Impregilo becomes Webuild: bigger, stronger and ready to serve the nation

PRESS NOTES

MILAN, May 4, 2020 – Salini Impregilo is changing its name to Webuild, with the message “bigger, stronger and ready to serve the nation” to accompany a publicity campaign that begins today in Italy’s major newspapers and news websites. It also comes on the day that Salini Impregilo shareholders meet at their annual assembly to approve the new name of a Group that is ready to contribute to the revival of the Italian economy within the context of an infrastructure investment plan capable of creating thousands of jobs. The launch of the Company’s new name, which will soon be online at www.webuildgroup.com and on social media channels with the account name Webuild, signals the latest step in the Group’s evolution, becoming ever more global with a strong base in Italy. It is a process of growth for the Company under the management and coordination of Salini Costruttori SpA within the context of Progetto Italia (Project Italy), and also thanks to the support of CDP Equity SpA and the country’s main financial institutions (UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, Banco Popolare BPM) and investors who believe in the project.

Progetto Italia (Project Italy) creates value for shareholders, and with the union between Salini Impregilo/Webuild and Astaldi, the new Group will have a combined order backlog of €42.5 billion (Salini Impregilo at €36 billion and Astaldi at €6.5 billion). The new Group will make the most of Italian know-how and create growth opportunities for small- and medium-sized Italian businesses that are part of the supply chain. Salini Impregilo and Astaldi in Italy had nearly €1.3 billion worth of purchases from local suppliers in the 2018-2019 period. In 2019, Salini Impregilo alone worked with more than 1,500 companies, 90% of them small- and medium-sized.

The Webuild Group, the result of a merger with Astaldi, will have 70,000 direct and indirect employees globally, and reach about 130,000 when taking into account the entire supply chain. In Italy, with the completion of the Astaldi acquisition, Webuild will reach 11,000 direct and indirect employees, with a total of 25,000 people employed when taking into account the supply chain.

The campaign will underline the Group’s growth strategy: to compete always more actively in international markets thanks to the aggregation of Italian excellence in the infrastructure sector, beginning with Astaldi, and putting itself at the service of the country, as seen with the success of the new Genoa Bridge. Like the Genoa project, where public institutions and companies collaborate to complete this symbolic work, there is also Progetto Italia, born out of a vision shared by Salini Impregilo, main institutions and financial players, who believe in the value of a project to restart the infrastructure sector in Italy, giving work to thousands of people and small- and medium-sized companies that make up the supply chain. A highlight of the campaign is Genoa’s new bridge, which the Group is building together with Fincantieri in record time, and which Webuild has bathed in the magic of tricolour lights in recent days following the completion of the deck. It lights up the bridge along its entire length as well as each of its 18 piers with the three colours of the Italian flag, accompanying the tricolour lasers that beam across the top of the bridge.

The new name evokes the company's vision that is anchored in the verb "build", which represents the DNA of a company that has been building infrastructure for 114 year on every continent and under every condition, from big cities to the tropics, from the deserts to ice fields. The word “we" expresses the fundamental roles played by people and teams in a business in which sustainability and safety are fundamental. The innovative spirit behind the name accompanies the desire to value the solid foundations that have been built up until now, with the keeping of the graphic logo of the globe with the five “whirls”. The name also keeps the sector’s promise - "to build to create value" - a definition that already belongs to the Salini Impregilo Group brand, with its pay-off and the name of the proprietary digital magazine "We Build Value", first published in 2015. In addition to the new name, a new proprietary font, the "We Build type", has also been created, representing the continuous evolution of the Group's brand identity. The brand will thereby gain greater strength and will therefore be immediately distinguishable and more innovative.

Salini Impregilo becomes Webuild: bigger, stronger and ready to serve the nation

Information material - Bridge project over the Strait of Messina
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