Hot on the heels of the record-breaking Enel IPO last year, the Italian government is lining up the sale of its remaining stake in Finmeccanica, the aerospace and defence company.

IRI, the Italian state holding company, holds 55% of the company, which has a market capitalisation of just over E10bn ($10.3bn). The Italian Treasury holds a further 29% of Finmeccanica. If the entire stake were sold, it could be worth a combined total of E8.4bn, the third largest sale in Italy after Enel and ENI. Since November, the Italian government has raised just over E20bn from the sale of Enel and Autostrade, the highways operator. According to the Italian press, IRI last week invited 20 banks to pitch for the sale mandate, with a beauty parade expected to take place next month. Goldman Sachs is advising IRI, while Lazard is advising the Treasury. A sale of Finmeccanica stock could prove difficult in the light of the performance of Enel and Autostrade. Italian retail investors were big supporters of both issues, but may be reluctant to swallow another slug of privatisation. Enel is trading more than 8% below its issue price. In addition, speculation is growing that the Italian treasury is planning to shed its remaining 36% stake in ENI, the state oils company, which is worth just over E15bn. Further north, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, the German state holding company, has invited pitches for Deutsche Post, which is due to be sold later this year.