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| - Shareholders of infrastructure group Atlantia agreed Monday to sell their motorway holdings to an Italian state-led group following a long-running dispute that erupted after deadly bridge collapse. Atlantia had been under pressure to give up control of its subsidiary Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI) since the Morandi bridge disaster in Genoa in 2018, which left 43 people dead. ASPI was in charge of maintaining the structure. Atlantia is owned by the Benetton family, best known for their eponymous fashion label. An overwhelming majority of share capital represented at the meeting approved a proposal to sell Atlantia's 88-percent stake in ASPI to a consortium led by state-backed investment bank CDP, a company statement said. The consortium, also comprising the Blackstone and Macquarie investment funds, offered 9.3 billion euros ($11.35 billion dollars), Atlantia's board said in a report to shareholders. News of the deal -- which will need to be formalised but is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022 -- triggered a market rally, with Atlantia shares up by around 3.5 percent, to 16.20 euros, in late market trade. Benetton will remain in control, via Atlantia, of Spanish motorway group Abertis and other holdings, including airports in Rome, Bologna and Nice. aa/ams/lth
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