Italy prepping to sell ITA Airways stake to Lufthansa for $250m

To the patient belong the spoils, this they could say of the privatization of Italy’s ITA Airways. The Lufthansa Group appears poised to win the contest for the state-owned carrier, even after an apparent loss this fall to the private equity-backed bid of Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines. A new decree from the Italian government, which is expected to be signed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday, specifies that an airline must lead the equity investment in ITA, reports Italian daily Corriere della Sera. That change would effectively leave Lufthansa as the sole bidder given the capital in Air France-KLM and Delta’s bid comes entirely from Certares. And while the latter could restructure their offer, Air France-KLM is barred from investing in other airlines until it repays the coronavirus aid it received from the French and Dutch governments, something that is not scheduled before May 2025. Lufthansa had planned to be a minority investor in ITA, teaming with shipping giant MSC in its initial bid. However, after Italy reopened the privatization to the group, MSC bowed out in November and left Lufthansa to go it alone. The group intends to invest E230-240m ($244-255m) for an initial 40% stake in ITA, Corriere della Sera has reported. Lufthansa intends to take full control of the Italian airline in the future. A deal for ITA would achieve a long sought goal of Lufthansa: To secure a piece of Italy’s national airline. The group has been maneuvering for part of Alitalia, and now ITA that replaced Alitalia in October 2021, since at least 2008. More recently, CEO Carsten Spohr has said his group is the “natural home” for ITA amid repeated public overtures for the airline. The Lufthansa Group is already Europe’s largest airline conglomerate, including its namesake carrier plus Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, and Swiss.<br/>