* Masterminded Enel's transformation into global player
* Green Power IPO should secure end-year debt target
* Pro-nuclear stance has curried favour with government
By Stephen Jewkes
MILAN, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Fulvio Conti is a man on a mission. After masterminding the transformation of former Italian power monopolist Enel into a global player, the 63-year old Chief Executive has set his sights firmly on debt reduction.
To do that, he's having to sell off selected assets including a minority stake in one of the family jewels -- renewable energy unit Enel Green Power.
Enel, Europe's most indebted utility, had hoped to raise at least 3 billion euros from the listing of EGP, but will have to settle with 2.5 billion euros after an initial aggressive pricing frightened off institutional investors
Cutting the IPO price to lure investors was a climbdown for Conti, but the group succeeded in getting the deal away in tough markets, albeit by loading the book with retail investors.
Conti, a lover of the sea who spends a lot of his free time at his coastal retreat in Sperlonga outside Rome, certainly has the credentials to steer the operation through choppy waters.
The Rome-born executive became European Chief Financial Officer at ExxonMobil in 1989 before overseeing finances at state-owned giants like the Italian railways and Telecom Italia .
At Enel, he was CFO for six years and played a key role in pushing through Europe's biggest ever IPO in 1999 when the Italian state listed a first tranche of Enel, cashing in over 16 billion euros.
In 2004 Conti orchestrated the successful unbundling of Italy's power grid to create Terna -- today Europe's biggest independent power grid operator in terms of assets.
Then in 2005 Conti moved into the driving seat at Enel when Paolo Scaroni was moved up to take charge at Eni -- another state-controlled energy giant where management skills and diplomacy with Treasury bosses go hand in hand.
Enel's drive towards internationalisation began in earnest in 2006 with an attempt to take over French rival Suez to gain critical mass. That deal fell through when the French government brokered a merger with its own national champion GDF.
But it was the 40 billion euro takeover of Spanish utility Endesa that catapulted Conti into the major league. Virtually overnight Enel became one of Europe's biggest utilities and came firmly on Europe's corporate radar screen.
Unfortunately it also made Enel Europe's most indebted utility. And when the global downturn pressured power prices, alarm bells started ringing at the ratings agencies.
Conti, who enjoys a strong track record on target delivery, responded with an 8 billion euro rights issue and a 10 billion euro disposal programme, including the EGP sale.
Conti, a fan of Frank Sinatra and a crooner himself, comes up for reappointment next year. His commitment to nuclear power has already curried favour with the Italian government, which has pledged to reintroduce it.
Getting the Enel Green Power sale away, albeit at a cost, has virtually secured Enel's end-year debt target. Conti might have done it his way but the Treasury overlords should be satisfied with the result come next year. (Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)