Atlantia Sets Up Company to Spin Off Autostrade Amid Italy Talks

(Bloomberg) -- Atlantia SpA is moving ahead with a plan to spin off its Autostrade per l’Italia SpA unit into a new listed company, as part of its agreed exit from the Italian highway operator.

The Benetton family infrastructure arm will establish a new company to acquire the assets resulting from the spinoff of a stake of as much as 88% in its Autostrade unit, which will then be listed on the stock market.

Atlantia is also considering a direct sale of its entire stake in Autostrade as an alternative option, it said in a statement. The spinoff will be approved at a later board meeting.

The Italian company has intensified talks with Italy’s state-backed lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA on a two-step plan that would see the Benetton family’s company relinquish its control of Autostrade, according to people familiar with the matter.

A deal would fulfill the billionaire Benettons’ pledge last July to exit ownership of Autostrade, ending a long-running conflict sparked by a deadly bridge collapse in 2018.

The plan under discussion envisages Atlantia, the world’s biggest toll-road operator, spinning off 70% of Autostrade into a new listed company, according to a draft of the plan seen by Bloomberg News. The new entity would then raise 6 billion euros ($7.1 billion) from Cassa Depositi and other investors in a capital increase.

Italy, Benettons Consider Two-Step Plan for Autostrade Sale

The collapse of the 1960s-era Morandi Bridge in Genoa remains a vivid national tragedy; 43 people died in the August 2018 accident, as cars and trucks plunged onto railroad tracks and streets below. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte had threatened to revoke Autostrade’s lucrative toll contracts after a ministerial commission argued that the company had underestimated the deterioration of the structure.

Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri said at a parliamentary hearing in Rome Thursday that discussions are “complex and delicate” and he is “moderately confident” in a positive outcome. Transport Minister Paola De Micheli said Italy has sent its new proposal for the concession to Autostrade, Ansa reported.

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