MEDITERRANEAN Shipping Company (MSC) is reportedly in talks to acquire Italian private high-speed operator Italo-NTV from Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).
Bloomberg News reported that container shipping group MSC is in exclusive discussions with GIP about a deal, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter.
The news service reported last year that GIP was considering a sale of Italo-NTV in a deal that could value the operator at €4bn, more than twice what GIP acquired the business for in 2018.
According to Bloomberg, discussions are continuing and there is no certainty that they will lead to a definitive sale agreement.
Milano Finanza reported in January that MSC was close to signing a deal for Italo-NTV. Italo launched open-access services to compete with state-owned operator Italian State Railways (FS) in 2012, and now operates a fleet of 51 high-speed trains connecting major Italian cities such as Rome, Milan,Naples, Turin and Venice.
