Unsurprisingly, we learned this Wednesday that Lufthansa has submitted an offer to acquire a stake in ITA Airways, the Italian national airline born from the ashes of Alitalia. This announcement comes after Air France-KLM announced that it was throwing in the towel in this case.
tailor-made decree
Recall that in early January, the Italian government had published a new decree obliging companies interested in the tender to “acquire the majority of ITA shares available at each stage of the privatization and, ultimately, to own the majority of the capital of ITA on the date of the total withdrawal of the Italian government from this capital”.
A tailor-made decree for Lufthansa, which had taken the same path for its rise in the capital of Brussels Airlines, acquired in two stages, in 2009 and 2016.
“It is initially about acquiring a minority stake and agreeing on purchase options on the remaining shares at a later date,” the group also said in a statement.
according to the newspaper Corriere della SeraLufthansa aims for a stake of around 40%, valued between 180 and 200 million euros, and could reach 100% of the capital in the medium term.
Indeed, Air France-KLM could not exceed 10%, because the company’s hands are tied by the conditions imposed by the European Commission in exchange for public aid received to overcome the Covid-19 crisis.
Source: BFM TV
