the last yellow and red contradiction – Libero Quotidiano

They had to be left in canvas shorts, they were filled with money. We could be wrong, but what happened on Wednesday in Piazza Affari does not look in the least like a defeat. Do you remember that story of the Benettons on the corner, of the government that would not have broken a euro? Well, the game has yet to be defined in detail, but yesterday an indiscretion about the operation that will remove the Ponzano Veneto group from Autostrade (and the State inside) was enough to unleash a festive buying race that blew up the title. participating in Atlantia of 16.2%.

Everyone crazy? Could be. But it may also be, however, that the political leaders were, who two years ago, after the terrible tragedy of the Morandi Bridge, thought and said that they could expropriate a private company, with shareholders and investors scattered throughout the country. world, without even waiting for the magistrates to determine a shred of responsibility. Of course, the tension of the moment. The rush to unleash people’s anger on someone’s back. But the antics didn’t last a few days. We have been told the story of the revocation of the concession as the only possible alternative to nail the Benettons into their own faults. And not just the grillini. At the beginning of July, shortly before the agreement reached with Ponzano Veneto, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte himself threatened the businessmen’s family with fire and flames: “They have not yet understood that this government will not agree to sacrifice the public good on the altar of They do not make fun of the Prime Minister, but of the families of the victims and of all Italians. “And again:” The collapse is a very serious and objective breach. It is not the State that owes money to the Benettons But the other way around.

Then, just in time to show up at the inauguration of the new bridge (returned to Autostrade despite promises) and subsequent commemorations of the massacre without being attacked by the crowd, the executive pulled the deal out of his hat, passing it off as a accountability with a loud scolding. How it will end, we begin to learn these days. Forget the punitive impapocchiate versions of Luigi Di Maio to make the pentastellato people digest the resignation of the revocation. Or Conte’s stories about mission accomplished. The one who was right was Matteo Renzi, who considered that the market was the only way to go. So it was. And so it will be. There will be no settlement. The Benettons will ditch Aspi (and their massive debt, also fueled by the costs of rebuilding the bridge and compensation of $ 3.4 billion) at a price that will satisfy both them and the numerous private partners, including Allianz, Edf. And Silk Road. There are two solutions on the table, the spin-off of Autostrade (with subsequent listing and capital increase to incorporate Cassa Depositi) or the sale on the market of 88% of Atlantia.

Now an extraordinary board of directors of the holding company should clear up doubts. But the $ 11 billion valuation of the highway company got the stock market excited. A figure very different from the range of 6-9 that was initially reasoned from the news released by the Treasury. That is a lot of money compared to what the government wanted us to believe. But this is not a gift. As the London superfund TCI, a shareholder of Atlantia, explained a few weeks ago, it is “a fair value of the asset” that will prevent “the flight of international investors from Italy.” Did it take you two years to figure it out?