The German air transport giant Lufthansa said on Wednesday that it had submitted to the Italian government an offer to enter the capital of the national company ITA Airways, initially aiming for a minority stake.
“It is initially a matter of acquiring a minority share and agreeing on options for the purchase of the remaining shares at a later date,” the group said in a press release, following months of behind-the-scenes negotiations with Rome.
The German group did not specify the targeted stake in the Italian public company, born in 2021 from the ashes of Alitalia, which the government has been trying to sell for a year. According to the Italian press, Lufthansa covets a 40% share, valued at around 300 million euros.
“Subject to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding by both parties, further negotiations and discussions would be conducted on an exclusive basis,” the statement said.
Lufthansa alone on the track
Shortly before, its competitor Air France-KLM, member of a consortium retained by the previous Italian government for the privatization of ITA, had announced that it was abandoning an offer, leaving Lufthansa alone on the track.
Upon acquisition of a minority stake in ITA, Lufthansa should take control of Alitalia’s successor, even if the Italian State would retain a right of scrutiny over strategic decisions.
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr has long been eyeing the Italian market, “the most important” for the group “outside of its domestic markets and the United States”, recalls the press release.
Two failed attempts
“Italy’s importance for business and private travel lies in its strong export-oriented economy and its status as one of the best vacation spots in Europe,” he adds.
The offer of the first European air transport comes following two failed attempts by Lufthansa to enter the capital of Alitalia, in 2009 and 2019.
Rome had given the green light in February to the privatization of ITA Airways, 100% controlled by the State, following years of fruitless search for a buyer for its ancestor Alitalia.
afp/asch