Italian privately-owned infrastructure operator Atlantia is reportedly ready to back the rescue plan of Alitalia (AZA, Rome Fiumicino), Reuters has reported citing unnamed sources.
Atlantia previously said it could not afford to participate in the plan, which foresees the company taking a 35% stake in restructured Alitalia in return for at least a EUR300 million euro (USD335 million) capital injection.
However, the company is reportedly prepared to invest in Alitalia if the government drops its threats to take away Atlantia's concession for the operation of Italian motorways.
The government previously threatened to withdraw the concession in the wake of the August 2018 collapse of the Morandi bridge in Genoa, which was operated by the company. Atlantia was blamed for poor maintenance of the bridge. The motorway concession brings more than half of the company's annual revenues.
While Atlantia did not comment on the report, sources at the state-owned railway operator Ferrovie dello Statio (FS), which is expected to take another 35% stake in Alitalia, confirmed that a deal with the infrastructure operator could be reached by the end of April.
Atlantia's largest shareholder, controlling a 30.3% stake, is the Benetton family. The company also owns Aeroporti di Roma, which operates Rome Fiumicino and Rome Ciampino. It also owns 64% of Aéroports de la Côte D'Azur, which operates Nice, St. Tropez, and Cannes Mandelieu airports in France.
The rescue plan for Alitalia assumes that besides Atlantia and FS, each with a 35% stake, Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance would get a 15% stake each.
