Road poker

24 September 2020 By Lisa Jucca Follow @LJucca

Atlantia, the clan’s infrastructure group, is at loggerheads with Rome over the sale of its crisis-hit motorway unit. Spinning off the division could end the dispute by establishing a fair market price. It’s a risky manoeuvre, but the threat may bring the government to the table.

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The board of Atlantia will meet on Sept. 24 to discuss spinning off its Italian motorway unit Autostrade per l’Italia (ASPI), which manages the bulk of Italy’s toll road infrastructure.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told La Stampa in an interview published on Sept. 24 that the government was in a hurry to wrap up matters with Atlantia and won’t accept any delays.

Edizione, the investment vehicle of the sweater-to-infrastructure Benetton dynasty, is Atlantia’s biggest shareholder with 30%. It has promised to exit ASPI as part of a deal to settle a government dispute triggered by the collapse of a Genoa bridge in 2018.

Proposals that have been discussed so far involved Cassa Depositi e Prestiti taking on a stake in ASPI through a capital increase as well as a two-step spinoff that would initially place 70% of ASPI in a vehicle.

Atlantia owns 88% of ASPI, with Germany’s Allianz and the Chinese Silk Road Fund owning the rest.

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