F2i to Join Italy’s CDP in Bid for Autostrade, Messaggero Says

(Bloomberg) --

Italian infrastructure fund F2i SGR SpA is set to join Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA in its bid for a controlling stake in highway operator Autostrade SpA, Il Messaggero reported.

F2i and state-backed lender CDP will together get a majority stake in Autostrade in the bid with Blackstone and Macquarie for the 88% of the business, which is owned by the Benetton family’s Atlantia SpA.

The offer is expected to be presented before a board meeting of the parent company on Oct. 19, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. Autostrade could be valued about 10 billion euros ($11.7 billion), excluding legal costs related to the Genoa bridge disaster, the people said at the time.

A deal would end the dispute between the Benettons and the government, which started in August 2018 after the highway bridge collapsed in the northern Italian city, killing dozens of people.

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