Autostrade argues that the clause of the privatisation law banning construction companies as shareholders has expired.
意大利高速公路公司称，这项私有化法律对建筑公司的约束条款已经过期了。
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The decision took Autostrade and Abertis by surprise: over the past weeks the firms felt confident that their plan to create the largest toll-road company in the world was on track.
Instead they wrote to the boss of the motorways regulator, pointing out that the 1997 privatisation law which relates to Autostrade stipulates that no construction company can become a shareholder.