Two letters to corner the Benettons

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Two letters arrived, one to the upper floors of Autostrade and another to those of the parent company Atlantia. The first Wednesday night. Signed by Roberto Chieppa, Luigi Carbone and Alberto Stancanelli, respectively secretary general of Palazzo Chigi, head of the Treasury cabinet and head of the cabinet of the Ministry of Transport. The second this morning, with the signature of the CEO of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Fabrizio Palermo. Two letters, of which Huffpost he learned, in which the Benettons are asked to respect the agreements of July 15, which can be summarized in a binding condition: the Cassa must be the pivot of the new Autostrade. Provided that two and a half months from the night council of ministers of the agreement is over, in fact almost dead. The latest coup de grace came this morning with the board of directors of Atlantia which decided to inaugurate a solo scheme, without an agreement with either the Bank or the Government. The combination of the pressure of the Government and the decision of Atlantia increases the climate of almost rupture matured in the last few hours.

The letter from the Cassa and the knot of indemnity

The letter, as reported by government sources of the highest level, actually certifies the state of the art of the negotiations that the Cassa has carried out with Atlantia to arrive at the signing of a memorandum of understanding, the translation into the road map and the one agreed in mid-July between the executive and the Benettons. This state of the art says that there are still many obstacles. So big that it is impossible to get closer today. And for this reason the letter reaffirms to keep faith with the commitments made on July 15, that is to a scheme that envisages as a first act the entry of the Cassa into Autostrade through a reserved capital increase. And then the accent is put on an essential issue to end the game: indemnity. Because the Cassa asks not to be brought up if in the future responsibility (and therefore compensation) for the collapse of the Morandi bridge in Genoa will emerge. Except that Atlantia is at most willing to open its own data room, the one where the risk assessments related to today are contained, and is not willing to answer any disputes in the future. Another point of the letter, the same sources refer, refers to another unresolved issue, that of the attribution of the debt of Autostrade.

The move by the government

Attached to the letter sent by Chieppa, Carbone and Stancanelli is the Additional Deed to close the dispute that opened after the collapse of the Morandi bridge and thus definitively archive the revocation. But on one condition: the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti must enter the motorway company. Article 10: “This agreement – reads the letter – will become effective upon the occurrence of the following conditions”. Below is a list of conditions, among which the sale to the Cassa stands out. Otherwise, the letter always says, the Act lapses and the dispute remains standing. And in turn, the dispute takes the revocation into play. The term revocation is not made explicit in the letter, but the reference is a must since the Government has always said that the dispute could go either towards an agreement or towards a break through the revocation.

This letter, which also contains the rewriting of the Convention, however, strikes against the convictions of Autostrade, which diverge from the path outlined in the letter. It is not the first time that the Government has linked the go-ahead for the transaction to the entry of the Cassa in Autostrade’s capital. He already wrote it in a letter sent on September 2. But even then, in the contacts it had with the executive, the company had explained that the recipient had to be the parent company Atlantia. It also explained that it cannot be forced to sell to the Cassa.

The short circuit between the government and the Benettons

This letter also speaks of the new fibrillation that has flared up along the government-Benetton axis. The two legs on which the agreement reached in July rests both limp. The first is that of Autostrade’s new corporate structure, with the Benettons leaving: Cassa and Atlantia (the company through which the Benettons control Autostrade), I’m on the verge of breaking up. The second leg is the one concerning the Additional Act, which is also packed.

The short circuit takes shape at this point. The Government appeals to the entrance of the Cassa provided for in the agreement of July 15 and written in black and white in the press release issued by Palazzo Chigi. And so the Benettons must proceed according to this scheme: capital increase reserved for CDP, then spin-off and listing. The counterpart, on the other hand, brings up other issues, contained in the letter of commitment sent to the Government at the time, where it is written that the scheme was bound to the green light of the boards of directors of Atlantia and Autostrade. Green light that has not arrived. Rather. After a few days, the minority shareholders said no to that road. And Atlantia had to take note. He made it clear to the Cassa during the negotiation. And he also told the government. But Wednesday’s letter says the executive holds the point and doesn’t want to back down. And Autostrade, according to what is learned from top-level industrial sources, intends to reaffirm the concept: it cannot be forced to sell to the Cassa.

The move of Atlantia

At the Atlantia headquarters, the reasoning is strengthened that the Cassa is not excluded from the post Benetton company game, but it is not the only player in the field to be legitimized. While the Government considers and celebrated two and a half months ago a new Autostrade with the Cash on the bridge. More. The board of directors of Atlantia has given the green light to a double track to inaugurate the new season of Autostrade. The dual route envisages on the one hand the sale on the market of the 88% share that Atlantia has in Autostrade on the market. On the other hand, Autostrade’s exit from the Atlantia enclosure, the creation of a new Autostrade and the subsequent listing of the latter on the Stock Exchange. Both options – communicates Atlantia – are aimed “both at CDP and other institutional investors”. The message you want to give is that of the open door. With the second option – this is the reasoning – Atlantia would initially hold 33% of Autostrade’s shares, which is the stake that has always been thought of for Cdp. As if to say that those shares are there, ready to be sold to the Bank. But this, like the first option, involves a different scheme than what the government wants. And a different price too. The Government, on the other hand, wants the Cassa to enter Autostrade at the beginning, through a dedicated road which is that of the reserved capital increase.

And then there is the issue of indemnity which, according to what the government sources themselves report, the Cassa considers to be the priority issue. Nobody – it is the reasoning – goes to buy a company on which hangs such a heavy sword of Damocles and that is to find themselves paying the bill for damages and mistakes made by previous owners and controllers. In the long communication with which Atlantia accompanied the double path, there is no reference to indemnity. And this is read in government circles as an unwillingness to keep the door open. But to close it.

In summary: Atlantia has decided to go it alone, without an agreement with the Bank, underlining, however, that a process for the exit of the Benettons is starting and that this operation takes place at market conditions, which it reiterates that it has already specified the night of July 14th. And also the other leg of the game, that of the Additional Act, being linked to the first by the bond of the sale to the Cassa, is still. Almost no one believes in the possibility of re-entering a distance that has been cemented. And for this Giuseppe Conte has returned to confide to some ministers that the revocation is always there, ready to be used.

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