Autostrade per l'Italia S.p.A. (formerly Autostrade S.p.A.) is an Italian

joint-stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareho ...

specializing in the management of

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 ...

sections under concession and related maintenance activities. Originally established as a

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

under the control of the IRI, it was

privatized Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

in 1999 and restructured into its current form in 2003. Until 2021, the company was part of the Atlantia group, which owned 88.06% of its share capital, with the Benetton family as the main shareholder. Following the collapse of the Ponte Morandi in Genoa in August 2018, which resulted in the deaths of 43 people, the Italian government sought to assume control over the national highway network. In September 2020, a preliminary agreement was reached with Atlantia. By spring 2021, a new company was established to which Atlantia transferred 70% of its stake in Autostrade per l'Italia (Aspi). The public bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti injected an initial capital increase of €4 billion to cover Aspi's long-term debts and an additional €2 billion to acquire the remaining 18% stake held by Atlantia in Aspi. As of September 2020, Atlantia owned 88% of Aspi's equity, while Edizione, the holding company of the Benetton family, held 30% of Atlantia. Autostrade per l'Italia was valued at €11 billion. In subsequent years, the Italian public sector is expected to finance extraordinary maintenance costs estimated at around €13 billion.

References

{{Authority control Engineering companies of Italy * Private road operators of Italy Formerly government-owned companies of Italy