Prysmian CEO Signals €4 Billion Shopping Spree as Cable Giant Eyes Hyperscale Deals

Prysmian SpA shares jumped Tuesday after Chief Executive Massimo Battaini told Bloomberg TV the Italian cable maker is already scouting the market for its next takeover, one with an enterprise value of roughly €4 billion. The disclosure comes less than 14 months after Prysmian closed its $4.15 billion purchase of U.S. rival Encore Wire, the largest deal in the company’s history.

Trading volumes spiked as investors interpreted the comments as confirmation that the hyperscaler-fueled demand for high-capacity power and data cables still has years of runway. Milan-listed stock ended the day up 4.7 %, extending year-to-date gains to 19 %.

€4 billion is not a casual placeholder. It is almost identical to the Encore Wire price tag and equals roughly 12 % of Prysmian’s current market cap. According to Markets Insider calculations, a deal that size would still leave net debt below 2.0× EBITDA and keep the company inside its own credit-rating guidelines. Put simply: Prysmian can write the check without asking bankers for mercy.

The figure also telegraphs Battaini’s strategic comfort zone. In the same interview he noted that future targets would be “similar in scale to Encore,” reinforcing the idea that management wants repeatable, bolt-on giants rather than a transformational merger that would triple the balance sheet overnight.

Every new GPU cluster or AI training pod needs two things in bulk: electricity and interconnect. Prysmian’s specialty cables carry both, and the hyperscalers, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta, are ordering them by the thousands of kilometers. Company guidance now assumes double-digit annual growth in North American data-center revenue through 2028, a segment that barely existed five years ago.

Encore Wire brought three U.S. plants and a direct sales channel to the same hyperscalers. Analysts at Jefferies estimate the combined entity can squeeze €140 million in annual cost and revenue synergies once the integration is fully phased in. Another €4 billion purchase would presumably offer the same playbook: buy a competitor with hyperscaler contracts, fold it into the global manufacturing footprint, and raise prices on the rest of the market.

No names were given, but the cable industry is small and transparent. Nexans of France, South Korea’s LS Cable & System, and Japan’s Furukawa Electric all sport enterprise values between €3 billion and €6 billion. Each owns North American plants or long-term supply agreements that would replicate the Encore logic.

Regulators pose the biggest unknown. European Union antitrust officials already scrutinized the Encore deal before clearing it last year. A second mega-merger could trigger deeper review, especially if Prysmian looks homeward toward Nexans. Battaini hinted the next move may not require EU approval, implying a U.S. or Asian asset is more likely.

Expect quiet diligence through the summer. Management reiterated that any transaction would close no earlier than 2027, giving the company two full years to finish digesting Encore and to harvest its cash-flow guidance. Prysmian just posted €2.4 billion in adjusted EBITDA for 2025 and expects to generate more than €1.1 billion in free cash flow this year. Those numbers give Battaini the luxury of waiting for the right asset at the right price.

In the meantime, investors will watch order books from Amazon and Microsoft for confirmation that AI infrastructure spend remains front-loaded. If cap-ex forecasts soften, the €4 billion war chest could shrink or the timeline could stretch. For now, the market is betting that copper still beats bitcoin.