Italians eye Atlantia-Abertis tie-up: report

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's Benetton family and bank Mediobanca (MDBI.MI) are studying a tie-up between Atlantia (ATL.MI) and Spain's Abertis (ABE.MC) that would create a motorway group controlled by Italian investors, Corriere della Sera newspaper reported on Saturday.

The report, which did not cite any sources, comes amid increasing speculation that Spain's Telefonica (TEF.MC), a shareholder in Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI), could bid for the phone company, a politically sensitive issue.

The Benettons -- best known for their clothing retailer Benetton Group (BNG.MI) -- and Mediobanca declined to comment.

A financial source who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters the Benetton family was not "studying anything with Mediobanca. No mandate has been given to anyone."

An Abertis spokesman denied plans to merge with Atlantia. "There is absolutely nothing from Abertis on this. Our stake is financial."

Corriere della Sera said the deal was at an early stage. Much depends on regulatory issues and on whether Italy would give Spain's Telefonica control over Telecom Italia.

Spain's industry minister said last week Italy should be open to Spanish investors, when asked about a report about a possible Telefonica takeover of Telecom Italia.

On Friday, Telefonica denied it was preparing a bid.

In 2006, Abertis and Atlantia, then known as Autostrade, abandoned plans to merge after opposition from the then center-left Italian government.

Corriere della Sera said the tie-up could involve Gemina (GEMI.MI), which owns Rome's biggest airport. It also foresaw an alliance between builders Impregilo (IPGI.MI) and Dragados, a unit of Abertis shareholder ACS (ACS.MC).

The Benettons have controlling stakes in Atlantia and Gemina. They share control of Impregilo with two other Italian investors, the Ligresti and the Gavio families.

Under the plan being studied, ACS would sell half of its Abertis stake to Italian investors, the newspaper said. The Italians then would have more than 30 percent of the combined entity, while the Spaniards would have some 20 percent.

Telefonica was brought in Telecom Italia after the Italian government pushed to find a European partner to buy control of Telecom Italia from Pirelli (PECI.MI) in 2007. U.S. phone giant AT&T (T.N), which was in talks with Pirelli alongside America Movil (AMXL.MX), pulled out citing Rome's interference.

(Reporting by Danilo Masoni; additional reporting by Andres Gonzalez in Madrid; Editing by Toby Chopra)