Private negotiations between the Ministry of Economy and Finance and a French-American consortium led by the US investment fund Certares (along with airlines Air France and Delta Air Lines) have begun. The latter presented the best bid for the acquisition (privatization) of the tricolor air carrier ITA Airways, beating the proposal of rival Italo-German cordate Msc-Lufthansa in terms of economics and governance.

There are four strong points of the Certares fund's proposal: taking over 50 percent+1 of the airline's capital leaves ample room for maneuver for the Italian government; it also improved its initial offer by 335 million euros to a total of 700 million by outbidding rivals; a 600 million capital increase is planned in addition to the one (amounting to 650 million) already planned by Rome and authorized by Brussels. Without forgetting that Msc-Lufthansa demanded a million-dollar withdrawal penalty in case of withdrawal by the Italian government. 

At this point the exclusive negotiation between Mef and Certares begins, which is not certain to go all the way given the precedents with Alitalia. If all goes well, however, new synergies would emerge for ITA Airways with the Latin American market (Latam and Azul airlines) and with leisure and business travel companies (American Express Global Business Travel, Tripadvisor, Hertz). European airlines Air France and Delta Air Lines, on the other hand, will not make investments on the tricolor airline. 

On this topic see also the article published by AVIONEWS.