A consortium of OMERS Infrastructure and DWS Infrastructure is set to buy Italian railway station business Grandi Stazioni Retail from a team led by Antin Infrastructure Partners, said four sources familiar with the situation.

OMERS and DWS are paying an enterprise value under EUR 1.5bn for the company, according to the sources. The business, which leases retail and advertising space in Italy’s 14 largest train stations, is being sold off around EUR 95m of EBITDA expected for 2024.

The team of infrastructure investors was selected as the best bidder after filing a binding offer at the end of July, beating a rival bid from French real estate investor Altarea.

An announcement regarding an agreement between the parties is expected imminently, sources said.

OMERS, DWS, and Antin did not respond to requests for comment.

In connection with the acquisition, OMERS and DWS are raising a debt package from a pool of banks including Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit, Deutsche Bank and NatWest, one of the sources added. The banks did not respond to requests for comment.

The new debt will refinance Grandi Stazioni Retail’s existing EUR 545m loans and finance part of the acquisition costs.

Antin launched an auction for Grandi Stazioni Retail earlier this year working with UBS as its financial advisor, while the team of OMERS and DWS worked with advisors Mediobanca and UniCredit.

Infralogic reported in June that OMERS and DWS had joined forces for the deal after a previous consortium of OMERS and EQT broke up.

DWS and Altarea, the other final bidder in the latest process, both competed unsuccessfully against Antin to buy Grandi Stazioni Retail in 2016, when the business was privatised.

Altarea also owns Centostazioni Retail, a similar but smaller business with operations in other Italian train stations.

Grandi Stazioni Retail leases retail and advertising space in Roma Termini, Italy’s busiest train station with over 550,000 daily passengers and 180 retail units. It also runs the commercial space at train stations in Milan, Naples, Turin, Florence, Bologna, Venice, Verona, Genoa, Bari and Palermo.

The Antin-led consortium of investors that are selling the business also includes real estate manager Icamap and family-owned investment firm Borletti Group.

Grandi Stazioni Retail is the last portfolio company of the Antin Infrastructure Partners II fund.

DWS is meanwhile raising its Pan-European Infrastructure Fund IV, with a target expected above EUR 4bn.