Atlantia, SIAS to merge Chilean toll-road assets

Italian toll-road operators Atlantia and SIAS have announced their plans to merge their jointly-held Chilean operations under a single vehicle, in which Mediobanca, an Italian investment bank, will also have a stake.

Atlantia and SIAS merge Chilean toll-road operations

On 30th June, the two companies filed a notice with the Milan Companies Register to merge jointly-held concessionaires Societa Autostrade per il Cile (APC) and Societa Autostrade Sud America (ASA) into a single vehicle, according to a joint statement from the companies.

Following the merger, Atlantia and SIAS will each hold 45.7 percent of the new vehicle, valuing the stakes at €524 million. Currently, Atlantia's Chilean assets are estimated at €131 million and SIAS' at €125 million, the statement said. Meanwhile Italian investment bank Mediobanca, which owned a 10 percent stake in ASA, will see its holding in the new vehicle diluted to 8.47 percent.

The planned merger will not alter the current governance arrangements and will bring both companies under the control of a single parent, the company said in a statement.

The merger is part of a process designed to extract value from the ASA-APC groups, which may include a potential initial public offering on one or more stock markets.