If it wants to conquer the motorways of Abertis, the Benetton family's Atlantia must ask permission to launch the takeover bid not only from the Spanish Consob but also from the Madrid government. This is the latest move in a game of chess made yesterday by the Rajoy government which urged the Spanish Consob to forward the request to the Italian group led by Giovanni Castellucci.
It is clear that Spain wants to sell dearly before seeing the Italian flag waving on its highways and is looking for any excuse. However, Atlantia is not discouraged and responds by saying it is ready to ask the Rajoy government for authorization as soon as possible ("Any clarification is welcome") but also to raise the offer from 16,3 billion euros to defeat the ACS of the Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who – through the German subsidiary Hocthief – offered 18 billion to take home Abertis, of which he was vice president until recently.
The game is open and in the case of cross-border mega-transactions one can never say never and yet the market is betting on the final victory of Atlantia. Barring surprises.
