ITA Airways: what will be the negotiation with Certares
Wins offer that gives the Italian Government ample room for maneuver
The US fund Certares wins the process that leads to the privatization of the national airline ITA Airways. Today the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (Mef) announced that an exclusive negotiation will be initiated with the consortium formed by Certares with two carriers, the American Delta Airlines and the Franco-Dutch Group Air France-KLM.
Both the consortiums involved estimated the value of the airline at around 950 million euros. The offer of the Certares fund provided for the acquisition of a capital stake equal to 55-57%, leaving the other part to the Italian State. The proposal of the American fund, as some have noted in recent days, appears as a co-management in which Rome maintains ample room for maneuver, with two out of five members on the future board of directors.
Always given as a favorite in recent months, the offer of the consortium formed by the Italian shipowner MSC and the German airline Lufthansa was therefore beaten: it planned to take over 80% of ITA Airways, that is a real privatization that aimed on ship-to-air intermodality and cargo. The operation will be completed by the next Government, which will have to submit the transfer procedure to the evaluation of the European antitrust.
On the subject see also the article published by AVIONEWS.
AVIONEWS - World Aeronautical Press Agency