Chile: Government to monitor Atlantia’s takeover of Abertis

The proposed merger between Atlantia of Spain and Abertis of France has come up to an unexpected hurdle, generated in part by the eventual merger of its businesses in Latin America – particularly in Chile and Brazil.

Although the merger has not generated competitive problems in Europe, where the companies only coincide in a few smaller markets, the situation in Chile is very different, since local branches of the groups control 78% of the highways in that country.

This position of power has led the government of Michelle Bachelet to closely monitor the operation. Atlantia will have to negotiate with the Chilean competition authorities, who have already stated that they are monitoring the merger. If they believe that the market is too concentrated, they could veto the IPO in the country or force the resulting company to shed part of its highly-valuable assets, thus diminishing the overall value of the merger.

Full Content: Economia Digital

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