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Benetton and Gavio families swap shares

By Giulia Cambieri

Two of Italy’s most prominent business families have agreed a share-swap deal that will see the Benetton family end its involvement in construction company Impregilo in exchange for the Gavio family’s stake in motorway group Autostrade Sud America.

In a statement released on 25 February, Atlantia, the highway operator controlled by the Benetton family, said it sold its 33% stake in IGLI, the holding company which controls 29.96% of Impregilo.

The stake was bought by Argo Finanziaria, the investment arm of the Gavio family, which already owns 33% of Milan-based Impregilo.

Impregilo is the country’s biggest construction company and is currently working on projects such as the development of the Milan-Turin and Bologna-Florence high-speed railways in Italy, and the widening of the Panama Canal in Central America.

The deal, which was worth €87.6 million, has yet to be reviewed by Italy’s anti-trust authority.

But if given the go-ahead, it would see the Gavios becoming Impregilo’s biggest shareholder, controlling about 66% of its shares. The remaining shares are owned by the Ligresti family.

In exchange, the Benetton family has acquired a 45.77% stake in Autostrade Sud America from the Gavios for €565.2 million.

The company, which was previously controlled by the Gavio family’s highway group SIAS, owns over 180 kilometres of highway in Chile, including the Autopista do Pacifico motorway.

Earlier this month, the Benetton family offered to pay €276.6 million to buy the shares it doesn’t already own in its flagship business the Benetton Group. The fashion retailer, founded by Luciano Benetton in 1965, is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange.

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