No surprises from the Atlantia shareholders' meeting. Group members gave the green light to the offer of the consortium formed by Cdp Equity (51%), Blackstone (24,5%) and Macquarie (24,5%) for 88,06% of Autostrade per l'Italia.
To say yes to the sale would have been approx 87% of the shareholders (over 64% of the share capital, 1.129 shareholders), confirming the proposal of the Atlantia board with a large majority. Therefore, not only the two main shareholders voted in favour, namely Atlantia and Fondazione Crt, but also institutional investors, also driven by the recommendations of proxy advisors Glass Lewis, Iss and Frontis according to which the sale to the consortium led by Cdp represents the best possible option on the table after 34 months of profound uncertainty that began on 14 August 2018 with the collapse of the Morandi bridge. Green light also from the Tci hedge fund, while 12,75% of those present (and 8,9% of the capital) voted against the CDP offer.
Crucial to convincing the shareholders was the upward adjustment (200 million more) thanks to which the value of Aspi rose to 9,3 billion euros.
The news is also having repercussions on the Stock Exchange, where from the very first remnants of the session, the title Atlantia it finished at the top of the Ftse Mib and currently marks an increase of 3,1% to 16,135 euros.
It should be emphasized that the vote of the shareholders is of a consultative nature, but was in any case wanted by the board of directors to endorse a decision that will have strong repercussions on the future of Aspi and the whole group. We also recall that the Atlantia board will meet tomorrow, 1 June, in order to ratify the outcome of the vote, while another board of directors is scheduled for 10 June called to take the final decision. According to forecasts, if all goes as planned, the signing should arrive by the end of June, while the closing is expected by the end of 2021.
