The government has given the green light to the privatization of Ita Airways, as announced today by Il Sole 24 Ore. “The measures taken in the Council of Ministers concern the reform of the CSM but also the procedure for the sale of Ita”, said the Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, announcing the approval of the provision-framework, the Dpcm scheme, to start the procedure of the mini-company born from the collapse of Alitalia, in addition to the amendments to the bill on the reform of the CSM.
Minister Franco: “There are interested parties”
“We have stakeholders interested in this operation,” explained the Minister of Economy, Daniele Franco. «Today we illustrated to the Council of Ministers the Dpcm which should start the process of finding a partner for Ita. We will follow the usual procedures: public offer or direct sale, ”said the minister. “We don’t have a schedule where we predetermine times,” he added. «One thing that the Dpcm fixes is the question of quotas. We expect that in a first phase the government and the Mef will maintain a minority but not a controlling stake in Ita. Share that can be sold at a later stage. But in the initial phase the government will certainly be present ».
The suitors ask for access to the data room
When the Dpcm is operational, negotiations for the sale of the majority stake in Ita will start. The interested parties ask for access to the data room, that is, to the data on industrial plans and Ita contracts.
The expression of interest of Msc
On the government table is the non-binding expression of interest sent on January 24 by Msc Sa, the Swiss company at the head of the maritime transport group owned by Gianluigi Aponte, the shipowner born in Sant’Agnello on June 27, 1940 who resides in Geneva. MSC has declared an interest in acquiring the majority of Ita and asked that the Mef maintain a minority stake. It can be observed that the Dpcm scheme examined at Palazzo Chigi responds perfectly to this proposal. However, the procedure will also be open to other potential interested parties. Therefore, the exclusivity will not be given to Msc, which has requested an exclusive negotiation for 90 days.
Delta’s approach
Delta Air Lines, the American company already interested in Alitalia at the time of the consortium set up by FS, in 2019 will probably enter the field. At the time Delta wanted 10 percent. The project aborted on November 19 because Atlantia, the Benetton company that had been selected as the fourth partner of the consortium, took off. Delta has commercial agreements with Ita, code sharing and in the SkyTeam alliance, as does Air France-KLM, of which Delta is a shareholder. So far this line-up has ruled out an interest in entering the capital of Ita but wants to continue the commercial collaboration. Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in January that the Atlanta company “has no plans” to acquire shares in Ita. But now the position could change, after Lufthansa’s interest in alliance with MSC has emerged. There may be some funds alongside Delta.