holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
active in the
motorway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
and
airport infrastructure
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
and mobility-related services industry, operating tolling services in 24 countries, including 11 for motorway and airport infrastructure concessions (
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and worldwide in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
,
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
).
The group manages of toll motorways,
Fiumicino
Fiumicino () is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 80,500 (2019). It is known for being the site of Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, the busiest airport in Italy and the eleventh-bu ...
and
Ciampino
Ciampino () is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, Italy. It was a ''frazione'' of Marino until 1974, when it became a ''comune''; it obtained the city ( it, città ) status (being therefore officially known as Città ...
airports in Italy and the three airstrips of Nice, Cannes-Mandelieu and Saint Tropez in France with more than 60 million passengers a year.
It was listed on the
Borsa Italiana
Borsa Italiana, based in Milan, is the Italian stock exchange. It manages and organises domestic market, regulating procedures for admission and listing of companies and intermediaries and supervising disclosures for listed companies.italy24.ils ...
until December 2022.
The main shareholders are: Edizione (a company of the
Benetton family
Four members of the Italian Benetton family () founded the Benetton Group S.p.A. fashion company in 1965.Blackstone and the CRT Foundation.
Atlantia changed its name to Mundys on 15 March 2023.
History
1950–2000: Foundation and consolidation
Founded in 1950 as Autostrade, when the company Concessioni e Autostrade S.p.A. was created, it aimed to give a significant contribution, cooperating with other Groups, to the
post-war
In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
reconstruction of Italy.
By the first agreement between ANAS signed in 1956, the companies were committed in co-financing, building and managing the Autostrada Del Sole, between Milan and Naples, inaugurated in 1964. Between 1962 and 1968, the Company was granted the concession for the construction and operation of other motorways. In 1982 it was acquired by Italstat and in 1987 Autostrade Concessioni e Costruzioni S.p.A. was listed on Borsa Valori of Milan.
In 1999, the Autostrade company was privatized. The consortium led by Schemaventotto S.p.A. (Edition of Benetton Group 60%, Fondazione CRT with 13.33%, Acesa Italia with 12.83%, Assicurazioni Generali and Unicredito Italiano both at 6.67% and Brisa International SGPS SA with 0.50%) and another one pulled by the Australian bank Macquarie, who retreated at last, were the other groups in the line.
With the 30% of the capital, Schemaventotto S.p.A. takes over the IRI Group, which was the reference shareholder. They did the only binding purchase offer for the share package paying IRI €5.05 billion; the remaining 56% of the shareholding held by IRI was intended to the stock market by a public sale offer which led to obtain 8.75 billion lire, for a total sum for IRI of 13,800 billion lire.
In January 2003 Newco28 made a tender offer, through a leveraged buyout operation: they found the liquidity necessary for the acquisition using the system credit and, consequently, the debt was transferred from Newco28 to Autostrade, following a merger by incorporation.
2003 was marked by a massive reorganisation of the group, the concession activities were separated from non-motorway activities and Autostrade per l'Italia S.p.A., a subsidiary of Autostrade (now Atlantia S.p.A.), was established.
EBITDA
A company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (commonly abbreviated EBITDA, pronounced , , or ) is a measure of a company's profitability of the operating business only, thus before any effects of indebtedness, stat ...
of 5.7 billions euros, financial debts for 36.7 bln (in respect of 38.8 bln of the previous year) and net profits for 136 million euros (in respect of 775 mln declared in 2018).
In June 2021, Atlantia sold its 88% stake in ASPI (comprising its largest Italian motorways) to the newly formed Holding Reti Autostradali spa (HRA).
With regard to sustainability ratings, as of July 2014 Atlantia had a low rating from
Standard Ethics Aei
Standard Ethics is an independent sustainability reporting rating agency based in London, known for its sustainable finance and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) studies. In 2001, it introduced a standardised approach to sustainability ...
of 'E' on a scale of F to EEE
within the SE Italian Index. It was further reduced to "E-" on 10 October 2019 in relation to the management following the Morandi bridge collapse, and was then finally suspended by press release on 22 September 2022.
2022: Voluntary Public Tender Offer and Delisting
At the beginning of April 2022, Spanish financier Florentino Perez (shareholder of 50% minus one share in Atlantia's majority-owned company
Abertis
Abertis Infraestructuras, S.A. () is a Spanish worldwide corporation engaged in toll road management. Even though most of the toll roads it operates in Spain are in Catalonia, the company is headquartered in Madrid. The company runs over 8,600 k ...
) together with the two private equity funds
Global Infrastructure Partners
Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is an infrastructure investment fund making equity and selected debt investments. GIP's main headquarters are located in New York City and its equity investments are based on infrastructure assets in the energ ...
and
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. is a publicly traded limited partnership with corporate headquarters in Toronto, Canada, that engages in the acquisition and management of infrastructure assets on a global basis.
Until a spin-off in Januar ...
, considered launching a takeover bid (OPA) for Atlantia.
In order to preserve the group's integrity and Italian identity, the Benetton family, in alliance with the U.S. fund
Blackstone Inc
Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate bu ...
, announced a defensive takeover bid in mid-April, so as to secure the group from possible financial counteroffensives, such as the one promoted by Perez.
The 19 billion takeover bid for Atlantia at 23 euros per share was launched on 10 October 2022.
The offer was launched by Schema Alfa, a special purpose vehicle controlled by Schemaquarantadue S.p.A., which is 65% owned by the holding company Edizione (chaired by
Alessandro Benetton
Alessandro Benetton (born 2 March 1964) is an Italian businessman.
He served as Chairman of the Benetton Group from April 2012 to May 2014.
Early life
Alessandro Benetton is the son of Luciano Benetton and Maria Teresa Maestri. He attended univ ...
) and 35% owned by the American private equity fund Blackstone.
The takeover bid was launched on Atlantia's total shares, that is, 66.90% of its capital, with the exception of the 33.10% stake held by Edizione.
The buy-out ended in November 2022, with Schema Alfa holding 95.933% of Atlantia, excluding treasury shares.
As a result, the holding company's new shareholding structure is made up of Edizione for about 64%, Blackstone for about 30% (through an open-end fund), and, finally,
Fondazione CRT Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Torino (Fondazione CRT) is a charity organization formed in 1991 by the spin off of the bank activities Cassa di Risparmio di Torino into Banca CRT S.p.A. (a limited company), with the original statutory corporation ...
for the remaining shares.
Atlantia left Piazza Affari on 9 December 2022, with the official delisting of the company from the Italian stock exchange after 35 years.
Group Structure
Shareholding
As a result of the delisting on 9 December 2022, the shareholding structure is as follows:
*Schema Alfa Spa: 66,6%
*Schema Quarantadue Spa: 33,4%
Subsidiaries
The group’s companies are:
*
Abertis
Abertis Infraestructuras, S.A. () is a Spanish worldwide corporation engaged in toll road management. Even though most of the toll roads it operates in Spain are in Catalonia, the company is headquartered in Madrid. The company runs over 8,600 k ...
Getlink
Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel, is a European public company based in Paris that manages and operates the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel between England and France, operates the Eurotunnel Shuttle train service, and earns revenue o ...
(Eurotunnel) - Paris - 15,49%
Controversies
2018: Morandi Bridge collapse
On 14 August 2018, the Atlantia managed
Morandi Bridge
(English: Morandi Bridge), officially (English: Polcevera Viaduct), was a road viaduct in Genoa, Liguria, Italy, constructed between 1963 and 1967 along the A10 motorway over the Polcevera River, from which it derived its official name. It c ...
collapsed causing the death of 43 people.
In 2018, the net debt level of Atlantia and the subsidiary Autostrade per l'Italia, had raised concerns from journalists and rating agencies.
Over the years, the company has received several awards in the area of sustainable development, earning an A rating in 2022 from the Carbon Disclosure Project (Cdp), a score of 73 from Moody's and an improvement in its rating from 'BBB' to 'AA' in the Msci Esg index. The company was also included in Bloomberg's Gender Equality Index (GEI) in 2022.
References
See Also
*
Aeroporti di Roma Aeroporti di Roma S.p.A. (abbreviated ADR) is an Italian fixed-base operator of Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport (in Greater Rome) and Rome Ciampino Airport since 1997 (the year of privatization). The headquarter of the company is located in Leon ...
Telepass image:Telepass-A9-20060209.ogv, 300px, Film showing the approach to and passing of a toll station in Italy, using a Telepass OBU. Note the yellow Telepass lane signs and road markings and the sound emitted by the OBU when passing the lane
Telepass ...
*
Abertis
Abertis Infraestructuras, S.A. () is a Spanish worldwide corporation engaged in toll road management. Even though most of the toll roads it operates in Spain are in Catalonia, the company is headquartered in Madrid. The company runs over 8,600 k ...