By Pamela Barbaglia
LONDON (Reuters) - Italian toll-road operator Atlantia (MI:ATL) has tapped a consortium of banks to finance an upcoming cash-and-share bid for Spanish rival Abertis (MC:ABE), sources close to the matter told Reuters, as it seeks to create an industry giant with a market value of more than 35 billion euros (29.27 billion pounds).
Atlantia said last week it was interested in reaching an agreement to acquire Abertis, but the Spanish infrastructure group's Chief Financial Officer Jose Aljaro said on Wednesday that it had not yet received any concrete bids.
Atlantia's advisers Credit Suisse (S:CSGN) and Mediobanca (MI:MDBI) and Abertis' adviser Citi (N:C) have committed to provide financing for the transaction with a formal bid expected to be announced as soon as next week, the sources said.
The pool of financing banks will also include Italian lenders UniCredit (MI:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) MI> and France's BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP), the sources said.
The overall financing package is estimated to be worth more than 10 billion euros, two of the sources said.
Atlantia is set to hold a board meeting on Thursday and may give the green light to a formal bid for Abertis, another source said, cautioning no deal was certain.
Spokesmen at Abertis, Mediobanca, Intesa and Credit Suisse declined to comment while Atlantia, UniCredit, Citi and BNP were not immediately available.