Shares in Italian infrastructure operator Atlantia gained on Thursday after the Benetton family and US buyout firm Blackstone tabled a $20bn offer to take the company private.
The offer price of €23 a share is a 36.3% premium on Atlantia’s share price over the past six months. Atlantia shareholders will also receive a proposed dividend of 74 cents in May.
The company is about to receive €8bn from the sale of its Italian motorway unit as it looks to move on from a political dispute caused by the 2018 collapse of the Morandi motorway bridge in Genoa run by the group that killed 43 people.
The Benetton family, which owns 33% of Atlantia, and Blackstone said they would “fully support Atlantia’s long-term investment strategy, current business plan, and sustainable growth”.
They started talks last week after the Benettons rejected an approach by investment funds Global Infrastructure Partners and Brookfield to buy Atlantia and hand its motorway concessions to Spanish tycoon Florentino Perez.
Benetton holding company Edizione will hold 65% of the investment vehicle launching the offer on Atlantia, with the US firm holding the rest.
Italian banking foundation CRT, a long-time investor in Atlantia, has already agreed to tender its 4.5% stake under the offer, the two bidders said.
