Apollo and Toto May Make Offer for Atlantia Highway Unit, Papers Say

(Bloomberg) -- Apollo Global Management Inc. and Toto Holding SpA may offer to buy control of Atlantia SpA’s Italian toll-road unit, La Stampa and other Italian newspapers reported Sunday.

The U.S. investment firm and Italy’s Toto want to jump back into the running for control of Autostrade per l’Italia SpA following the move Friday by Spanish construction company Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA to reaffirm its own interest in buying the unit, La Repubblica said, citing “financial sources.”

Atlantia, whose biggest shareholder is the billionaire Benetton family, is selling its 88% stake in Autostrade following a deadly 2018 bridge collapse on a section of highway managed by the unit.

An investor group led by Italian state-backed lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA has already made a revised offer for a controlling stake in Autostrade in an effort to seal a deal after months of acrimonious talks.

Last September, Il Sole 24 Ore reported that Toto sent a letter to Atlantia expressing interest in its Autostrade stake, and that Toto would have to team up with a financial investor, possibly Apollo.

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