The Italian government has opened exclusive negotiations with a consortium formed by Certares, Delta Air Lines and Air France-KLM for the sale of ITA Airways, a state-owned airline created to replace Alitalia.
Through a statement released on Wednesday (31), the Treasury Ministry says that the trio's offer “was considered more aligned with the objectives set”, surpassing the proposal from the German company Lufthansa and the Swiss shipping group MSC.
“After the conclusion of the exclusive negotiation, the signing of binding agreements will only be carried out in the presence of contents that are fully satisfactory to the public shareholder”, states the note from the government, which holds 100% of ITA shares and wishes to maintain a minority stake.
Certares is a private equity company from the United States with a strong presence in the airline sector, including a stake in the Brazilian company Azul. Its offer foresees a commercial partnership with the American Delta and the French-Dutch group Air France-KLM, which was once a shareholder in Alitalia.
Defeated in the dispute, Lufthansa released a statement stating that the Italian government chose a proposal that will allow “greater State influence” in the management of ITA. “From our point of view, our offer with MSC was and continues to be the best solution,” the statement added.
Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA) was created to definitively overcome the chronic crisis at the now extinct Alitalia, which stopped operating in October 2021. The new company was born with around 8 thousand fewer employees and a leaner fleet, in addition of having no relation to the liabilities left by its predecessor.
The objective of Prime Minister Mario Draghi's office is to conclude the transaction quickly to prevent the change of government after the September 25 elections from paralyzing the process. The leading candidate in the polls, Giorgia Meloni, far-right, has already indicated that it could review the sale of ITA and even keep it as a state-owned company. (Handle)
