Rome's next big tourist draw risks going bust before it opens

The Aquarium of Rome wanted to open this year to show the millions of pilgrims and tourists flocking to the Italian capital that there’s more on offer than ancient history and old churches. Instead, it’s become a study in just how hard it is to deliver landmark building projects in modern times.

Italian banks Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and UniCredit SpA still have a nominal interest in the struggling enterprise after being forced to write off 95% of their loan exposure to its owner in a previous restructuring. But talks to raise fresh cash from investors, including London-based distressed specialist Zetland Capital, have dragged on for years without conclusion, according to company filings seen by Bloomberg. That casts further doubt over the site’s future.

The location in Rome’s EUR district — a neighborhood first developed in the fascist era and home to the monumental architecture popular back then — has been under construction for almost two decades, and will probably go bust if it doesn’t open soon. Potential operating partners are holding off until the financing is secured.

The 13,000 square-meter (139,930 square foot) project, meant to house more than 100 marine species, has already cost more than €100 million ($117 million). And it needs at least another €20 million to emerge from financial distress and finish the job, according to corporate filings.

Making things worse is a drawn-out legal dispute with the EUR district authority, which is seeking damages from the site operator Mare Nostrum Romae Srl over the constant delays. “The arrival of a new partner might be the only chance today to unblock the operation,” a spokesperson for EUR SpA, a company controlled by the Italian government that manages the area’s development, wrote in a statement to Bloomberg.

Representatives of Mare Nostrum and Zetland didn’t respond to requests for comment. Spokespeople for Intesa and UniCredit declined to comment.

The standoff and the struggle to secure new cash show how ambitious construction deals can quickly become a quagmire for providers of debt finance, especially if relations with local officials sour, creating a vicious circle of legal fears blocking the investment crucial to moving forward.

While Italian courts have made progress in recent years to speed up litigation and insolvency processes, they still take longer than other top-rank economies. That’s a red flag for international investors, even in distressed situations.

Marine Dreams
The idea of the Rome aquarium was first dreamt up in the early 2000s, and the Ricciardis — a local family of developers — won a concession to build and run the site for 30 years.

After a string of setbacks, delays and problems keeping up with its debts, their company Mare Nostrum had been seeking to open the site’s doors this year to coincide with a Catholic Jubilee, a festival that’s expected to attract 30 million pilgrims to Rome. It’s looking ever more likely to miss out on that windfall.

Negotiations with Zetland, founded by ex-HIG Capital managing director Ahmed Hamdani, hit a roadblock after it and other prospective backers asked for reassurances over an extension of Mare Nostrum’s agreement to run the site that’s set to expire in 2039, according to corporate filings by the Italian firm.

EUR SpA has said it would be willing to grant a nine-year extension but has imposed conditions including for Mare Nostrum to tie up with firms with deeper pockets and more experience running aquariums.

Costa Edutainment SpA, which operates Italy’s largest aquarium in Genoa, is interested in the management of the site, once the financial issues are settled, a spokesperson told Bloomberg. Merlin Entertainments, a global manager of leisure parks and other attractions, previously retreated from a similar partnership.

While Mare Nostrum cited “positive prospects” for a legal settlement with EUR in its annual report, the lawsuit’s still pending, according to EUR.

There’s skepticism too about the aquarium’s prospects for getting started in 2025. “It’s difficult to expect an opening within the Jubilee year even with a new partner,” EUR said in its statement.