Shareholders of Meta Modena, the Italian regional utility, have approved plans for the company to go ahead with its €60m ($63m) initial public offering, a deal which has been waiting on the sidelines for more than a year.

There were only six Italian IPOs last year, raising €1bn, compared to €3.8bn from 17 deals in 2001. The largest IPO of 2002 was Pirelli Real Estate, which raised €392m, but then traded down 10% on its first day of trading. Mediobanca, Banca di Credito Finanziario and Morgan Stanley were bookrunners on the deal.