Deals
The $11 Billion Reason Italy May Not Nationalize Autostrade
- State would have to take over company’s existing liabilities
- League not convinced that state takeover would be efficient
The Autostrade per l'Italia headquarters in Rome
Photographer: Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images
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Italy’s sovereign debt may swell by as much as 9.4 billion euros ($10.8 billion) if the government goes ahead with plans to nationalize the toll roads run by Atlantia SpA’s unit Autostrade per l’Italia SpA.
That’s the amount of net debt that Autostrade reported at the end of last year. An early termination of the company’s contract to operate about 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) of Italian toll roads would force the state to take over the company’s existing liabilities, according to a clause in the bond documentation.