EU Gives Green Light to Abertis-Autostrade Merger

Posted 23 September 2006 @ 09:47 am EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Commission gave the green light for the controversial merger of Spanish road toll operator Abertis and Italian peer Autostrade. The marriage "would not significantly impede effective competition" in Europe, the EU's mergers commission said in a statement Friday.

Last month Italy's centre-left government blocked the proposed merger because the deal was deemed "not compatible" with Rome's concession to operate tolls on Italy's motorways with Autostrade. Although the two companies have portrayed the deal as a merger of equals, Rome has seen it more as a Spanish takeover, since the transaction would be dominated by Spanish capital.

The merger would create the biggest highway operator in the world, with 17.000 employees managing 6,700 kilometres (4,150 miles) of road and with a capitalisation of 25 billion euros (32 billion dollars). The Spanish daily El Economista reported that Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi would visit Spain next month for talks on the project with Spanish counterpart Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.