Lufthansa intends to join the Italian airline ITA Airways. An offer has been made to the government in Rome for a minority stake in Alitalia's successor, the company said. The takeover of the airline is planned for the long term.
- Lufthansa wants to get involved with the Italian airline ITA Airways. An offer has been made to the government in Rome for a minority stake in the successor to Alitalia, the group said. In the long term, the takeover of the airline is planned.
The German Lufthansa wants to take over the Italian airline ITA Airways. The group is initially aiming for a minority stake in Alitalia's successor company and "options to purchase the remaining shares at a later date," Lufthansa said on Wednesday. A corresponding offer was sent to the Italian government, which owns ITA Airways.
The sale of the airline has been hanging in the balance for months. The government in Rome – then still under Prime Minister Mario Draghi – initially preferred an offer from the US investment fund Certares, which includes Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines. A joint offer by Lufthansa together with the Swiss shipping group MSC had long been considered the favourite.
Change of course under the new Italian Prime Minister Meloni
However, the new government under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was skeptical about Air France-KLM's offer. At the beginning of January, she reopened the negotiations and seemed to prefer Lufthansa as a buyer. MSC had meanwhile dropped out.
The German airline has now confirmed its interest in entering the Italian market alone. Air France-KLM had announced shortly before that it would no longer seek a stake in ITA Airways.
The airline emerged from the insolvent airline Alitalia and is currently 100 percent owned by the Italian state. Rome joined Alitalia in 2017, but did not find an investor for a long time. (AFP/dpa/lh)
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