MILAN (Reuters) – Atlantia <ATL.MI> will hold a board meeting on Thursday to discuss splitting off its motorway assets from the group, two sources close with the matter said, as it presses ahead with a plan to part ways with its Autostrade per l’Italia business.
Atlantia owns 88% in Autostrade, which runs half of Italy’s motorway network, with Germany’s Allianz <ALVG.DE> and China’s Silk Road holding the rest.
The reorganisation of Atlantia’s motorway assets is at the centre of tough negotiations between the group and Italian state lender CDP to end a dispute triggered by the deadly collapse of a bridge run by Autostrade.
Atlantia, controlled by the Benetton family, agreed in July to pull out of Autostrade in the wake of the 2018 bridge collapse, in which 43 people died.
But disagreement over a series of issues, including who will handle potential legal claims over the motorway network, has stood in the way of a final deal with CDP.
The sources also said the infrastructure group is expected to grant a short extension to exclusive talks with Partners Group for the sale of its toll-road payment business Telepass.
“The extension will be into the first week of October for technical reasons,” one of the sources said.
Atlantia declined to comment.
(Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; editing by Francesca Landini and Jane Merriman)
