After Italian Bridge Tragedy, Board Waits a Week for Meeting

(Bloomberg) -- The Atlantia SpA unit responsible for the bridge that collapsed Tuesday in Italy plans an emergency meeting of its board, people familiar with the matter said -- but not until next week.

The extraordinary meeting is meant to consider the impact of the disaster in Genoa, which killed at least 39 people. Directors of toll-road operator Atlantia, whose chief executive officer, Giovanni Castellucci, has become a focus of anger over the tragedy, may meet in a similar time frame, according to the people, who asked not to be named as the plans aren’t public.

The decision to wait comes amid mounting pressure on Autostrade per l’Italia, the Atlantia division that operates the road. Atlantia bonds are plunging, and the government has begun the process to revoke Autostrade’s profitable highway concession, while demanding CEO Castellucci and the rest of the unit’s top management be dismissed.

Italy’s Benetton family, the biggest shareholder in Atlantia, is waiting out the political storm because it knows Italy isn’t ready to take over the roads as it would be required if it revoked Autostrade’s concessions, said Andrea Giuricin, a professor of transportation economics at Milan’s Bicocca University.

“The family is taking its time because they know the threat Italy could actually suspend its concession to Autostrade per l’Italia seems to be more a political outburst," Giuricin said in a phone interview. A decision to revoke the license would be a mistake without a thorough review, given the impact it would have on markets, the company and on transportation in Italy, he said.

Late Wednesday, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told reporters that the government will “start the procedure to revoke Autostrade’s license.” He said officials won’t wait for the outcome of a probe or a trial to take action.

The government may limit the license-withdrawal to the A10 highway that includes the bridge, not the entire toll-road network run by Autostrade, according to a Transport Ministry official who asked not to be named in line with internal policy.

Autostrade said in a statement late Wednesday that it’s confident it will be able to demonstrate it fulfilled the conditions of its concession and that it carried out maintenance and monitoring “on the basis of the best international standards.”

People familiar with the matter said Castellucci retains the confidence of Atlantia’s biggest shareholder, the Benetton family, and has no plans to resign. Rome-based Atlantia declined to comment.

Morandi bridge, built in the 1960s, is part of a major artery connecting the Italian Riviera to the southern coast of France. It collapsed in a heavy rain on Tuesday, causing more than two dozen vehicles to drop to the railroad tracks about 150 feet below.

Ferragosto Holiday

The disaster occurred during the height of Italy’s summer travel season, during the Ferragosto holiday that is similar to U.S. Thanksgiving. Most companies, including Atlantia, are shut down during the week. The bridge’s failure and accompanying loss of life has shocked Italians and led to questions about the safety of hundreds of aging bridges and tunnels.

Autostrade said checks on the bridge had been made by third parties on a quarterly basis and were used to devise maintenance plans in line with legal requirements. The company made no mention of calls for top management to stand down.

The collapse amounts to a major blow to both maritime and land transport to and from the busy port city, with negative consequences for the Italian economy as a whole, Transportation and Infrastructure Deputy Minister Edoardo Rixi said in an interview with Sky Tg24 television on Tuesday afternoon.

Rescuers are still searching through the wreckage. The 1,100-meter (3,600-foot) section of viaduct that gave way sat on thin pylons as it crossed a river, buildings and the railroad.

The company’s shares fell 5.4 percent in Milan on Tuesday. They didn’t trade on Wednesday because markets were closed due to the public holiday.

Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said Wednesday that Autostrade’s top managers should resign. He added in a Facebook post that given “serious breaches” the government has activated procedures for withdrawal of the company’s concessions and the imposition of sanctions of up to 150 million euros ($170 million).

“If they are not able manage our highways, the state will do it,” Toninelli said.

Similar calls for executives to step down and for the license to operate Italy’s highways to be scrapped came from deputy premiers Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini, who head the ruling coalition’s partners Five Star Movement and League.

--With assistance from Luca Casiraghi, Manuel Baigorri and Kevin Costelloe.

To contact the reporters on this story: Tommaso Ebhardt in Milan at tebhardt@bloomberg.net;Daniele Lepido in Milan at dlepido1@bloomberg.net;Lorenzo Totaro in Rome at ltotaro@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net

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