The Italian government of Mario Draghi is taking initiatives shortly before the elections to sell the national carrier Ita, which succeeded Alitalia.
For the future of Ita, the Italian government made a decisive choice today. The preferential negotiation for the sale of the airline will be done with an alliance, in which Air France, the American company Delta Airlines and the American fund Centares participate. German Lufthansa had also expressed substantial interest. The proposal that was chosen, as the Italian Ministry of Finance underlines, “comes closer to the goals that were set”.
The two main reasons, according to analysts, are that Alitalia first, and now Ita, belong to the same airline alliance as Air France, Sky Team, and that the presence of Delta Airlines is expected to guarantee significant tourist flows from the United States.
Ita was created last October (when Alitalia was closed) and since then the Ntragi government has been looking for a credible buyer. However, the negotiation does not presuppose a mandatory sale of the company. This step will only be taken if it is verified that all the necessary conditions are finally met.
Political uncertainties
According to the information so far, the Italian Ministry of Finance will still (at least in a first phase) retain 45% of Ita’s shares and will have 2 members on its board of directors out of a total of five. The offer of the Franco-American alliance reaches 650 million euros and guarantees the further exploitation of Rome’s Fiumicino-Leonardo Da Vinci airport.
But now there is another issue of a political nature: according to the newspaper La Repubblica, Mario Draghi’s government is not certain that it will be able to reach the decisive phase of signing the agreement. For the definitive “yes”, most likely buyers will have to wait for the composition of the new government after the September 25 elections. And it is far from certain that if the conservative coalition, the far-right Giorgia Meloni of the Brothers of Italy, wins, it will finally give the necessary consent.
Theodoros Andreadis–Syngellakis, Rome
Source: Deutsche Welle
Source: Capital
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