Italy State Lender Seeks Extension of Autostrade Bid Deadline

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Dec 10 2020, 6:31 PMDec 11 2020, 6:38 PMDecember 10 2020, 6:31 PMDecember 11 2020, 6:38 PM

(Bloomberg) -- An investor group led by Italy’s state-backed lender has asked Benetton family-owned Atlantia SpA to extend the deadline for an offer to buy its toll highway operator.

The lender, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA, and international funds Macquarie Group Ltd. and Blackstone Group Inc. asked Atlantia to push the deadline for a binding bid for Autostrade per l’Italia SpA back to January, Radiocor news wire reported, citing people with knowledge of the talks.

The investor group had been finalizing a new bid for the 88% of Autostrade owned by Atlantia, people familiar with the talks said Thursday.

Italian infrastructure fund F2i SGR SpA may also be part of the bid, the people said. Prior to the news of a request for an extension, Atlantia had been expected to examine the new offer at a board meeting Monday.

The request for more time was made during a meeting between Atlantia and the potential buyers Thursday, Radiocor reported.

With a new offer, their third so far, CDP and the two funds would seek to break an impasse with the billionaire Benettons, who control Autostrade through infrastructure giant Atlantia. The Italian government and the family have clashed over Atlantia’s toll license ever since a fatal 2018 bridge collapse on a section of road managed by the company.

Atlantia has twice rejected bids from the CDP-led group that valued the stake at between 8.5 billion euros ($10.3 billion) and 9.5 billion euros. The new offer may value the stake at around the same price range, but would give the buyers additional safeguards over legal risks facing the company, one of the people familiar said.

Giovanni Castellucci, a former chief executive officer of both Autostrade and Atlantia, was arrested last month as part of an investigation into road safety following the bridge disaster. The Benetton family replaced the head of its holding company last month. Enrico Laghi, a former special administrator of Alitalia SpA, replaced Gianni Mion in a move seen as facilitating a deal with the government.