Atlantia, the toll road operator partly owned by Italy’s Benetton family, has made a €16.3 billion takeover offer for Abertis, a Spanish infrastructure group. T
he
Financial Times
called the bid
“potentially as decisive to the future of the family” as founder Luciano Benetton’s decision to begin selling colorful clothes in 1965.
If the deal goes through, the combined company would be the world’s largest toll road operator and would be the biggest asset owned by Edizione, the Bennetton family’s holding company, the
FT
noted. Edizione is Atlantia’s biggest shareholder, with a 30% stake, the article said.
Four Benetton siblings — Luciano, 82, Giuliani, 79, Gilberto, 75, and Carlo, 73 –are the largest stakeholders in Edizione, the article said.
Today 70% of Edizione’s revenues come from Italy. The Abertis deal would change that figure to 46%. Revenues from South America would increase from 7% to 12%, the
FT
report said.
Edizione, which generated revenues of €11.3 billion in 2016, is based in Treviso, Italy, and has holdings in textiles and clothing, food and beverage, infrastructure, real estate and agriculture. Infrastructure will account for more than two-thirds of total revenues if the deal goes through, the
FT
article said.
The Agnelli family, who control Fiat Chrysler, and Leonardo del Vecchio, who controls eyewear company Luxottica, also have diversified away from Italy, the report noted.
Benetton reported its fourth consecutive annual loss in 2016. “Bankers think it may be folded into a joint venture with a larger group or bought by a private equity fund,” the
FT
article said. Family members are no longer involved in management of the retailer. (Source:
Financial Times
, May 26, 2017.)
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