Green light from the shareholders’ meeting of Atlantia for the sale of 88% of Autostrade per l’Italia to the Cdp-Fondo consortium.
A very significant majority was expressed in favor of the operation, around 87% of the shareholders present at the meetings who therefore clearly demonstrated their satisfaction with the proposal presented by the board of directors. The shareholders ‘meeting, as is well known, was “purely consultative” in nature, but given the delicacy of the operation, which will inevitably affect the future and the strategies of the holding, the board nevertheless wanted to submit it to the shareholders’ judgment.
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The board of directors of the holding
An Atlantia board of directors is also expected to “plan” the next steps: a board meeting on June 10 to give the green light to the binding agreements with CDP-funds and then the signing of the agreements themselves (the so-called signing) by the end of June. The stock market, however, was already discounting the go-ahead of the assembly already in the early trading of the morning, given that the Atlantia share had started with a strong rise (best title of the Ftse Mib with over + 3% over 16 euros). Moreover, the opinions of the main proxy advisors (Glass Lewis, Iss and Frontis) were all in favor of the operation, agreeing in underlining that – given the scenario of profound uncertainty that has lasted for over two years and the absence of alternatives (if not to start a legal dispute with the government) – it was the best possible option on the table. This is both because the board has done everything to reach at least the lower part of the valuation range on Aspi indicated by Atlantia’s advisors and because this move will allow the holding to relaunch itself, starting an asset rotation with new investments thanks to the liquidity obtained.
The cash holding company
Also according to Equita, in the event of the sale of Autostrade, Atlantia will have around 5 billion cash, “increasing strategic flexibility”. «The equity story will focus on asset rotation and support for Abertis. – continues the broker – We estimate a dividend per share of 50 cents in 2021, which will rise to 70 in 2022, but we do not exclude more generous dividends. We expect a positive reaction from the share if the offer from the Cdp-Fondo consortium is accepted ».