Condotte d'Acqua was Italy's oldest builder — then €2B debt and corruption sank it

Società Italiana per Condotte d'Acqua was founded in Rome on 7 April 1880 by royal decree of King Umberto I, with initial capital of 20 million lire. It was Italy's third-largest construction company with a portfolio of major infrastructure works including the Villoresi Canal, the Brenner Base Tunnel, and the Florence high-speed railway station. At its peak, the company held an order book of €6 billion.

The company's troubles began when it invested heavily in the Bandar Abbas port project in Iran. After the Iranian Revolution, payments stopped and the company was never compensated. The resulting hole in the balance sheet was filled with debt — nearly €2 billion (€1 billion to banks, €1 billion to suppliers). Meanwhile, the company could not collect the substantial credits it was owed by Italian public authorities.

In March 2018, chairman Duccio Astaldi was arrested and placed under house arrest on corruption charges. The arrest destabilized management and complicated the restructuring efforts. By the summer of 2018, Condotte faced imminent bankruptcy, requiring €200 million to survive. On 6 August 2018, the company was placed under extraordinary administration under the Marzano law. After five years of administration, the core business was acquired by Tiberiade Holding in July 2023 for €345 million.