The Italian government has further delayed Spain's Abertis Infraestructuras' €25bn ($31.7bn) takeover of Autostrade, the motorway operator, after refusing to approve the deal over a lack of documentation. It came as the Bank of Italy's governor urged simplification of takeover rules in an effort to speed up domestic banking mergers.

Antonio Di Pietro, the Italian infrastructure minister, yesterday rejected Autostrade's formal request to approve Abertis' takeover, Reuters reports.