MILAN
Italy’s Atlantia launched a 16.34 billion euro (Dh66 billion; $18 billion) cash-and-share offer for Spain’s Abertis on Monday in a bid to create the world’s biggest operator of toll roads, with 14,095km under its management.
A tie-up with Abertis, which gets a third of its core earnings from France and has extensive operations in Latin America, would allow Atlantia to generate around 60 per cent of core earnings outside its home turf, well ahead of a self-imposed 2020 deadline.
Atlantia, which is controlled by the Benetton family, is trying to diversify away from low-growth Italy, where it now makes 75 per cent of its core profit, while Abertis faces the expiration of motorway concessions at home.
The Benettons had been negotiating on the offer with Spanish bank La Caixa, which is Abertis’s top shareholder with a 22.3 per cent stake through Criteria Caixa, sources have said.
“We believe we achieved the goal” of making the offer friendly and attractive for all shareholders and the management of the two groups, Atlantia CEO Giovanni Castellucci said in a statement.
Atlantia said it would offer 16.50 euros per Abertis share, compared with the Spanish stock’s closing price on Friday of 16.45 euros. Abertis stock has risen nearly 8 per cent since rumours of a bid first emerged on April 18.
Shareholders in the Spanish group can also choose to be paid partially or totally in newly issued Atlantia stock on the basis of a swap ratio of 0.697 Atlantia shares for each Abertis one.
The swap ratio is based on a price of 24.20 euros for Atlantia’s shares.
Atlantia said its offer aimed at securing at least 50 per cent plus 1 share of Abertis. The bid did not target delisting the Spanish company, it added.
Credit Suisse and Mediobanca acted as financial advisers to Atlantia.
BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo were selected as debt advisers to arrange the funding package for the transaction.
—Reuters
