Benettons Appeal to Watchdog in War With Italy Over Autostrade
Italy Likely to Strip Benettons of Toll Contract, Minister Says
(Bloomberg) -- The billionaire Benetton family accused Italy’s government of driving down shares in Atlantia SpA after members of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s coalition signaled they’re ready to strip the company’s highway unit of its contract to manage most of the country’s roads.
Shares in infrastructure giant Atlantia tumbled on Thursday after Economic Development Minister Stefano Patuanelli told Bloomberg that, given the state of ongoing talks between the two sides, revocation is not only possible, “it’s also the most probable outcome.”
The Benettons have battled successive Conte governments over the fate of their concessions, ever since the fatal 2018 Morandi bridge disaster on a section of highway managed by Atlantia’s road unit Autostrade per l’Italia SpA.
Following Patuanelli’s comments, and similar remarks by Transportation Minister Paola De Micheli reported by Ansa news wire, the company said it filed a complaint with stock market regulator Consob “to safeguard” investor interest. Atlantia is also weighing an appeal to European regulators, according to a statement Thursday evening.
Patuanelli accused the Benettons of dragging their feet on a deal to cede control of the highway unit. Atlantia had in July pledged to sell its stake to investors led by state-backed lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA, known as CDP. After missing initial deadlines, Conte’s government gave Atlantia an additional 10 days to agree to its demands.
With an eye to what could in future be a dramatically altered universe of holdings, the Benettons may hire veteran banker Diego De Giorgi from UniCredit SpA to lead their Edizione Srl investment company, daily la Repubblica reported Friday, citing unidentified people from the finance industry. Edizione controls Atlantia as well as food concession specialist Autogrill SpA and the Benetton Group.
Autostrade Workers
Conte’s government has long been divided over how to deal with the Benettons, with the center-left Democratic Party, the second-biggest group in the coalition, generally taking a more moderate stance than the populist Five Star Movement, the senior partner in the alliance.
Five Star has made ending the Benettons’ control over Italian highways a key part of its political plank ever since the Genoa accident, using a series of more recent highway closures sparked by safety concerns to fan popular anger at the company.
Patuanelli, a Five Star lawmaker, said in the interview he’s “passionate” about assuring Italians feel safe on the highways run under concessions by private operators.
Patuanelli also said the government has a plan to protect jobs for Autostrade’s 7,000 workers, and that it can withstand potential damages from the revocation process, which could amount to as much as 23 billion euros ($27 billion).
CDP saw the negotiations with the billionaire family as faltering late last week, after it was notified in a letter that Atlantia was planning to go ahead with a spinoff plan without guarantees over future claims linked to the bridge collapse, people close to the negotiations said at the time.
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