Italy’s state railway confirms bid for Alitalia

Italian railway company Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) has put in a bid for Alitalia, paving the way to create an integrated transport company, Italy’s economic development minister Luigi Di Maio said. He also confirmed several other companies had submitted offers for the troubled carrier, which filed for bankruptcy in May 2017. “I have always said that I don’t want to save Alitalia; I want to relaunch it and, thanks to FS’s willingness to take part in this big project, the first company in the world to bring together road, rail and air can be born,” Di Maio said. FS had confirmed Oct 30 that it would make an offer for Alitalia, without giving any further details. FS CE Gianfranco Battisti had previously said his company saw synergies with Alitalia that were worth exploring. <br/>