MILAN (Reuters) – Shares in Atlantia jumped almost 12% to their highest levels in over two years after Global Infrastructure Partners and Brookfield Infrastructure pitched a possible takeover of the Italian road and airport operator.
The funds have an agreement with ACS under which the Spanish construction company could acquire a majority stake in Atlantia’s toll road concessions if any offer was completed.
The two funds said they had pitched a potential takeover of Italian road and airport operator last week after meetings with its main shareholder, Benetton family’s Edizione.
However, the Benetton family, investment fund Blackstone and other long-time investors in Atlantia are studying a counter-move to buy the company, three sources with knowledge of the matter said late on Wednesday.
COMMENTS:
Equity salesperson at an Italian bank:
“If stock is up 10-15% in the next few sessions I would be more a seller than a buyer as this is going to be another special situation with politics involved” and, with Benetton controlling one-third of the capital, any hostile bid would be “quite hard to materialize.”
Banca Akros:
Any combination with ACS may lead to further synergies on Atlantia’s Latin America business. The broker adds however that given stake that Benetton hold in Atlantia, and the ongoing buyback, “a hostile bid could be challenging.”
Intesa Sanpaolo:
Analysts at Intesa Sanpaolo agree that an unfriendly bid of ACS seems “unlikely to succeed and it would also put into question the partnership with Atlantia on Albertis.”
Bestinver:
Bestinver says instead that a possible war for control of Atlantia “would undoubtedly benefit minority shareholders but would risk becoming too costly for the contenders.”
Hence, the brokerage does not rule out that the Benetton and Florentino Perez, who owns ACS, may come to an agreement, jointly delisting the Italian group and then proceeding with a break-up.
(Reporting by Federico Maccioni; Editing by Keith Weir)