Italian developer Atlantia told P3 Bulletin there would not be any changes in its pursuit of Spanish rival Abertis following the fatal collapse of the Morandi bridge in Italy. Hochtief and Atlantia are pursuing a joint acquisition of Abertis in conjunction with ACS.
Atlantia, which holds the concession for the motorway in Genoa, expects no immediate changes to its takeover bid after Standard & Poor's placed its ratings on creditwatch negative following the collapse of the bridge and a steep fall in its share price.
Hochtief declined to comment, however according to a note on its website for Abertis shareholders the German developer continues to buy Abertis shares at the original price of €18.36 ($21).
Ratings for Atlantia’s affilates Autostrade per l’Italia and Aeroporti di Roma also fell into creditwatch negative territory.
Meanwhile, undersecretary to the prime minister's office Giancarlo Giorgetti told Italian newspaper Il Messaggero that the government would launch an infrastructure plan in September to overhaul motorways, bridges, viaducts, aqueducts as well as schools.
Giorgetti said: “It will be a maintenance operation with no precedents, with enormous investment in public works”. However he did not specify the cost of the plan or how it would be funded.