Air France-KLM and Delta Are in Negotiations to Buy ITA Airways
An investor group that includes Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines has been chosen for exclusive negotiations to buy Italy’s national carrier ITA Airways. The group, which is led by Certares, was elected over a rival bid from a team that included Lufthansa and shipping company MSC.
Italy’s Ministry of Finance is running the process to find a new owner for ITA Airways, and announced the potential buyers in an official statement. The Finance Ministry revealed that the Certares-led bid was more in line with its goals.
Bids for ITA Airways were initially required to be submitted in May, but then the deadline was extended to August 23rd. The Italian government claimed the bids weren’t good enough and invited interested investors to resubmit proposals.
The Certares bid is reported to be worth 600 million euros for a total stake of 55%. Certares gets 40.1%, 9.9% goes to Air France-KLM, 5% for Delta, and the remaining 45% will be publicly owned.
There are still many steps to be completed, including regulatory hurdles. Plus with elections coming up in Italy, the deal could be scrapped if another party comes in power.
And that’s a very likely outcome. Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the right-wing alliance that’s expected to win the upcoming elections, is opposing the sale. “I don’t understand why the current government chose to move forward without waiting for the new government,” she said. “We spent billions of euros on ITA Airways and now we are giving it to foreign investors without a plan for the airports.”
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