Atlantia to ask Blackstone consortium to improve Autostrade bid – Reuters

Atlantia SpA was disappointed with the bid from an investor group comprising Blackstone Group Inc., Cassa depositi e prestiti SpA and Macquarie Group Ltd. for its 88% stake in Autostrade per l'Italia SpA and plans to ask for "substantial improvements" to the offer, Reuters reported, citing a company statement.

The Italy-based infrastructure group reportedly said the bid, which valued Autostrade at €9.1 billion, is below expectations and tasked its CEO and chairman to see if the offer could be improved.

The consortium had also asked Atlantia to guarantee as much as €1.5 billion in potential damage claims and for a pending legal case, making the bid less attractive than previously expected, according to the report.

Atlantia's board will hold another meeting in due time to make a final decision on the bid. The deadline for the offer is March 16, but it could be extended if Atlantia calls an extraordinary shareholder meeting to consider the matter, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Hedge fund manager TCI Fund Management Ltd. and French private equity firm Spinecap SAS, which own minority stakes in Atlantia, had earlier urged the company's board to turn down the offer on the grounds that the bid undervalued the motorway business.

An advisory services partner for TCI, which reiterated that Autostrade's enterprise valuation should be no less than €12.5 billion, commented in an email to Reuters that "no deal is better than a bad deal, especially a bad deal and a wrong price."