UPDATE 1-Italy's cabinet to meet amid pressure to cancel Atlantia tollway licence
(Changes slug, adds detail on cabinet meeting, share price background)
By Giuseppe Fonte and Francesca Landini
ROME, July 14 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's cabinet will meet late on Tuesday as it nears a decision on whether to strip infrastructure group Atlantia of its motorway operating licence, following a bridge disaster in 2018.
Conte has made clear he believes Atlantia's tollway unit Autostrade per l'Italia should lose its licence over management failures that led to the collapse of a bridge it operated in the northern city of Genoa, killing 43 people.
But his fragile coalition government has been divided over the issue, with some ministers concerned that ditching the concession could trigger a costly legal battle for an already heavily indebted state.
Neither officials nor company executives could confirm whether a final ruling would emerge after the cabinet meeting, pushed back to 10 p.m. (1800 GMT) from this morning.
An Atlantia board meeting on Tuesday morning ended with no decisions taken, a source close to the matter said.
The battle over Autostrade, which operates around 3,000 kilometres (1,850 miles) of Italy's highway network, has become intensely political, much of it centring on the role of the powerful Benetton family, Atlantia's biggest shareholders.
The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement has been determined to drive the Benettons out of the motorways, creating tensions with its coalition partners, who fear a possible hefty compensation claim.
In addition, there has been concern in the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and the centrist Italia Viva group over the impact on jobs and the operation of the motorways, as well as possible financial market disruption if Autostrade is forced to default on some 10 billion euros of debt.
Atlantia shares, which plunged some 15% on Monday after Conte made clear he favoured revoking the concession, were up by about 2% at 1100 GMT.
On Tuesday, Benetton holding company chairman Gianni Mion said Conte's position on the issue was understandable given the tragedy surrounding the Morandi bridge collapse but the family hoped for a "fair" solution. (Writing by James Mackenzie; editing by John Stonestreet)
