The Italian government will enter into exclusive negotiations with a consortium including Air France-KLM, the investment fund Certares, and the American Delta Air Lines about a takeover of the Italian airline ITA Airways. The Ministry of Finance announced this.
ITA is the successor to the bankrupt Alitalia. That company was kept afloat by the Italian state and then restarted under the new name and slimmed down form.
Rome wants to privatize ITA, and the group of Air France-KLM, Certares, and Delta is now invited to negotiate a sale of ITA. A rival offer from the German aviation group Lufthansa is therefore rejected. Instead, Lufthansa is collaborating with MSC, a Swiss-Italian company that offers container transport and operates cruise ships.
Outgoing Prime Minister Mario Draghi had said at the beginning of August that he still wanted to complete the sale of ITA. Draghi has offered to resign from his government but will remain as head of government until a new government is formed. Elections will be held in Italy on September 25.
