EIB and Poste Italiane Partner for €450 Million Investment to Enhance Digital and Sustainable Logistics

EIB and Poste Italiane Partner for €450 Million Investment to Enhance Digital and Sustainable Logistics

(IN BRIEF) The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Poste Italiane have signed a €450 million finance contract to modernize and digitalize Poste Italiane’s logistics and postal services. This funding will be used to establish new automated parcel sorting centers, including the first in southern Italy, and to migrate software platforms to the cloud, implement AI tools, and enhance physical and IT security. Additionally, the loan supports green initiatives, such as improving energy efficiency and electrifying the vehicle fleet. This partnership, which spans 25 years and ten agreements totaling nearly €3.3 billion, underscores the commitment to innovation and sustainability, transforming Poste Italiane into a comprehensive logistics operator.

(PRESS RELEASE) LUXEMBOURG, 12-Jul-2024— /EuropaWire/ — The recent financing initiative will allow Poste Italiane to significantly enhance its automated parcel-handling capabilities by establishing new sorting centers. This marks the tenth collaboration between Poste Italiane and the European Investment Bank (EIB) over the past 25 years, bringing the total financing provided to nearly €3.3 billion.

The EIB and Poste Italiane have formalized a €450 million finance contract, aimed at accelerating service digitalization and creating a more modern, efficient, and sustainable logistics and postal system. The agreement was officially signed in Rome by EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti and Poste Italiane CEO Matteo Del Fante.

The funding will be utilized to automate and digitalize logistics processes, including the establishment of new parcel sorting centers, with the first one planned for southern Italy. It also includes migrating software platforms to the cloud, enhancing physical and digital service channels, implementing artificial intelligence tools to support business and operational process automation, and bolstering physical and IT security. Additionally, the loan incorporates a green component, supporting investments in energy efficiency and the electrification of the company’s vehicle fleet.

These projects are designed to accelerate Poste Italiane’s transformation from a traditional postal service provider into a comprehensive logistics operator, ensuring economic and environmental sustainability.

The EIB has maintained a longstanding partnership with Poste Italiane, spanning 25 years and involving ten agreements that have collectively amounted to almost €3.3 billion, with €1.273 billion currently active, including the newly signed loan. This collaboration has significantly contributed to service digitalization, IT and logistics infrastructure development, sustainable mobility, and energy efficiency enhancements.

EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti highlighted the importance of this partnership: “Our collaboration with Poste Italiane exemplifies how financial institutions can support large companies in promoting innovation, sustainability, and energy efficiency. This loan is pivotal in enabling Poste Italiane to continue evolving and meeting the demands of a rapidly changing market, providing increasingly efficient and sustainable services to both individuals and businesses.”

Poste Italiane CEO Matteo Del Fante added, “This initiative underpins our role as Italy’s leading logistics operator and advances the service digitalization efforts initiated in recent years. The new projects will enhance our infrastructure’s capacity, allowing us to sustainably scale automated parcel handling and meet the increasing logistics demands driven by e-commerce.”

Background information

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It finances sound investments that can contribute to EU policy. EIB projects strengthen competitiveness, foster innovation, promote sustainable development and improve social and territorial cohesion while supporting a fair and rapid transition towards climate neutrality. In the past five years, the EIB Group has provided more than €58 billion in financing for projects in Italy.

Poste Italiane is the largest service distribution network in Italy, covering activities that range from logistics, letter and parcel delivery and financial and insurance services to payment systems, telecommunications and the energy market. With its over 160-year history, approximately 120 000 employees and 12 800 post offices, total financial assets of €586 billion and 45 million customers, the group occupies a unique position in terms of size, brand recognition, reach and customer loyalty. With a turnover of €12 billion in 2023, its business has a substantial impact on the Italian economy in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), tax revenues, employment and household income. Its total direct, indirect and induced impact on GDP was €13.7 billion in 2023.

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SOURCE: European Investment Bank