Atlantia picks advisers for bid after confirming 2022 guideline

MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s Atlantia said on Thursday it picked BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley to advise it on a 58 billion euro ($60 billion) takeover approach from the Benetton family and Blackstone to be launched later this year.

The infrastructure group also confirmed its previous expectations for full-year revenue and core profits after reporting a 13% rise in first-quarter sales.

Last month, Italy’s Benetton family and U.S. investment fund Blackstone joined forces to propose a buyout offer for the motorway and airport operator, to take it private and stave off rival interest for the group.

The bid heralds a new phase for Atlantia, which last week finalised the sale of its domestic motorway unit to draw a line under a political dispute sparked by a deadly bridge collapse in 2018.

Stripping out the contribution of its domestic motorway unit, sales reached 1.5 billion euros in the first quarter and core profit came in at 0.9 billion euros, up 16% driven by a recovery in motorway and airport traffic.

($1 = 0.9636 euros)

(Reporting by Francesca Landini, editing by Giulia Segreti and Barbara Lewis)