Abertis is considering severing its partnership with Italy’s Benetton family in a further sign that the Spanish infrastructure group is no longer interested in a large merger in Italy.

Abertis was forced at the end of last year to scrap its agreed €25bn ($35bn) merger with Autostrade of Italy after months of dispute with the Italian government and in spite of support for the deal from the European Commission. Autostrade, which is now called Atlantia, is controlled by a shareholder group headed by the Benetton family.