The day that ITA Airways – or rather, the Italian government – was eagerly awaiting has arrived: at 00:00 on July 6, the deadline for submitting binding bids from companies interested in taking over Alitalia’s successor closed.
A lot has happened since Alitalia closed its doors and the brand new ITA gave continuity to the business: to a complicated panorama due to the flag carrier’s pressing economic reality after the violent exit of Qatar were added the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which triggered the price of fuel to double the price recorded in 2021.
As reported by Leonard Berberi for Corriere Della Sera, this combination of factors devalued the company by approximately 500 million euros. According to Berberi, Lufthansa and MSC would offer between 800 and 850 million, considerably less than the 1 billion it planned to offer and much less than the 1.2 to 1.4 billion that the Italian state set as ITA’s value in December 2021.
The U.S. investment fund Certares would offer between 550 million and 600 million, a lower percentage drop as it had originally suggested an investment of between 600 million and 800 million, albeit with a lower percentage shareholding. Lufthansa claims to have control of 80% of the shareholding. Certares did not confirm its expected share, but it will certainly be higher than what Italy intends to cede.
Another difference between the bidders is the speed to take the reins of the company: Lufthansa would like to go up right away, while Certares will need some transition time to get up to speed and find an operating partner to sustain the operating schemes while 2023 arrives for Air France to take over, along with Delta Air Lines, although the latter will be coupled from the purely commercial side.
What is certain is that the Italian government is anxious and in a hurry to settle the offers and could define the new owner this very week: it knows that a delay or a third round of negotiations could make ITA’s price fall even more, and the state-owned airline is – as always – a permanent friction factor, as well as a hemorrhage of funds that never coagulates. Whatever it is called.
*** Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) ***
