Italian construction company Toto Holding, Lazio football club owner Claudio Lotito and Avianca majority shareholder German Efromovich have all presented formal bids for a stake in a consortium to take over Alitalia, the Italian govt has disclosed. Italy's ministry of economic development says all 3 have submitted official expressions of interest in the flag carrier as a July 15 deadline to complete the privatisation process looms. One of those bidders will be chosen to complete the consortium to take over Alitalia, unless other interested parties come forward in the remaining days. The govt confirms that infrastructure operator Atlantia, which has previously been linked to a bid for the SkyTeam carrier, did not present any expression of interest. <br/>
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Alitalia was fiercely criticised this week after releasing an advertisement on social media that featured an actor wearing blackface playing former president Barack Obama. The ad was made to promote the airline’s recently announced nonstop flight from Rome to Washington. A representative for the airline initially defended the video, saying that the actor portraying Obama was not Caucasian and that “makeup was applied to highlight features.” However, later Wednesday, the company apologised and said that it would remove the ad from all of its social media channels. “Alitalia deeply apologises for the offense caused by the promotional video on our new Washington route,” it said. “For our company, respect for everyone is mandatory, it was never our intention to hurt anyone and we will learn from what has happened.” <br/>