MILAN: A consortium led by Italian state lender CDP is set to send Atlantia a sweetened offer for its stake in Autostrade per l’Italia in a last-ditch attempt to salvage talks over the fate of the motorway business, three sources said.

CDP, together with co-investors Macquarie and Blackstone, have been negotiating with Atlantia on Autostrade since last year to try to end a dispute triggered by the 2018 collapse of a bridge ran by Autostrade per l’Italia.

The CDP is expected to decide on the revised offer for 88% of Autostrade at a board meeting late on Sunday.

The new bid, yet to be finalised as talks continued, still values all of Autostrade at 9.1 billion euros ($10.73 billion) but makes some concessions, the sources familiar with the matter said.

The consortium is considering offering Atlantia a lower level of exposure to potential legal claims compared with the offer proposed in February, which called on the group to pick up the first 1.5 billion euros in claims should they materialise, they added.—Reuters