Opa Abertis: 5 major banks "betray" Atlantia and go with Acs

Twist in the battle for the conquest of the Spanish motorway giant: five major international banks change sides. These are BBVA, Societè Generale, Natixis, Commerz and HSBC: the commissions offered by Florentino Perez are higher than those of the Benettons and furthermore an operation such as the Abertis takeover bid can only take place with the approval of the Spanish authorities - Acs presses on Deutsche bank which has so far remained neutral

Bad news for Atlantia. To report them is the Spanish newspaper The Confidential, according to which five large banks in the consortium that supports the takeover bid launched by the Benetton family group on Abertis are ready to withdraw and go over to ACS, the rival company of Florentino Perez which has been trying to steal the future of the Italian company for months control of the Spanish motorway concessionaire and which on 18 October, through its German subsidiary Hochtief, presented a maxi counter-offer worth 18,76 euros per share.

According to what the Madrid newspaper writes today, Bbva, Commerzbank, Société Générale, HSBC and Natixis have decided to abandon Atlantia and go over to ACS. The reason for the sensational about-face is easy to say: money.

Perez's group would offer them much higher commissions precisely in order to secure the financial support necessary to be able to conquer Abertis, given that in the 18.580 million euro operation, a large part of the amount would be financed through a syndicated loan.

Not only, ACS is currently negotiating with 20 other banks in order to be able to obtain one of the highest loans ever signed in Europe.

The telenovela Abertis therefore continues, also because it would now also be in the sights of the Spanish giant Deutsche Bank which however, for the moment, has decided to remain neutral.

At Piazza Affari the title Atlantia it does not seem to be affected by the latest news from Spain and gains 0,99% to 28,55 euros, clearly beating the performance of the Milanese list which travels just above parity.

We remember that the offer of Acs through Hochtief plans to acquire 100% of Abertis at 18,76 euros per share, a value that far exceeds the valuation of Atlantia, equal to 16,5 euros. In percentage terms, the difference is 13,7%. The shareholders who adhere to the transaction will alternatively have the option of opting for an exchange of 0,1281 new Hocthief shares for each Abertis share up to a maximum of 193,5 million shares of the Spanish group, equal to just under 20% .