(Rome) German airline Lufthansa is set to take a 40% stake in Italian flag carrier ITA Airways, the Italian newspaper reported on Saturday. Il Fogliosuggesting the deal could be announced next week.
Posted at 12:40 p.m.
A spokesman for ITA, an airline formed from the ashes of loss-making Alitalia, declined to comment but said a strategic plan would be presented to its board on January 31.
The spokesperson added that a “data room”, a secure place to store key financial documents, often to allow the usual checks before a merger or acquisition, would be open “in the coming days”.
According to Il FoglioLufthansa will buy 40% of ITA through an agreement that intends to make Rome’s Fiumicino airport a hub for direct flights to Africa and some of those to American destinations.
The newspaper specified that the agreement will have to be approved by the European Commission.
Alitalia was placed under public administration in 2017, but Italy then struggled to find an investor to take it over.
The situation has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic which has grounded airlines around the world.
Lufthansa had long been touted as a potential partner, but a failed rescue attempt in early 2020.
The German company declined to comment on the report.Il Foglio. She had said in November that she had finished repaying a €9 billion (CDN 12 billion) bailout from her country’s government, which saved it from bankruptcy at the height of pandemic-related travel restrictions.
The German government is required to sell by October 2023 the stake it had taken in Lufthansa under the bailout deal, the same source added. This participation has already fallen from 20 to 14%.