MILAN (Reuters) - The Benetton family is set to replace the powerful head of Atlantia (ATL.MI) with an executive committee and co-opt a right-hand man to help steer the infrastructure group through fallout from a deadly bridge collapse, three sources said.
The collapse last year of a bridge in Genoa claiming 43 lives brought Atlantia under heavy political pressure, with the ruling coalition 5-Star Movement calling for it to be stripped of its motorway concession.
Giovanni Castellucci, who has been chief executive of Benetton-controled Atlantia since 2006, is expected to hand in his resignation at a board meeting later on Tuesday, the sources close to the matter said.
“The idea of setting up an executive committee would offer good support,” one of the sources said, adding the company might also decide to appoint a temporary managing director.
Another source said that Gianni Mion, a veteran manager who has long been close to the Benettons and who heads the family’s holding company Edizione, could be appointed to the board.
Castellucci and other top managers at the infrastructure group are under investigation for the Genoa bridge collapse, along with officials at Italy’s transport ministry.
After the Genoa disaster, Castellucci left a top job at Atlantia’s motorway unit Autostrade per l’Italia while remaining at the helm of the parent group and continuing to be directly involved in all major issues.
MENDING FENCES
Last year he masterminded a multibillion-euro merger with Spain’s Abertis and was negotiating a potential investment by Atlantia in the rescue of flagship carrier Alitalia [CAITLA.UL].
His hands-on approach could make a
