MSC confirms that it is not interested in acquiring a stake in Ita Airways. After the Economy Minister, Giancarlo Giorgetti, had decided on October 31st not to extend the exclusive negotiation with Certares, underway since August 31st, the consortium between the freight and passenger transport giant and Lufthansa was back on track in August they had proposed the purchase of 80% of Ita Airways (60% MSC and 20% Lufthansa). But Thursday November 17th. when the data room opens. only Lufthansa showed up, with advisors, while there was no sign of interest from MSC.
Lufthansa has access to Ita’s data room
Gianluigi Aponte’s group in a press release explained that it “has already informed the competent authorities that it is no longer interested in participating in the privatization of Ita Airways, not recognizing the conditions in the current procedure”. In this context, the US strategic fund Certares, which in a commercial alliance with Air France-KLM and Delta had proposed to buy 50% plus one share of Ita, remains on the sidelines, awaiting further developments. And at this point a formalization of the interest is expected from Lufthansa which, through the voice of its spokesman, makes it known that it has no comments on the matter.
At the end of October, Lufthansa had made it known that it “remained interested in the Italian market”, explaining that “we monitor the further process of selling ITA and remain interested in a real privatization of the airline”.
The new president Turicchi will manage the transfer
The new president of Ita, Antonino Turicchi, will have to deal with the “sale” issue to whom, on the recommendation of the Mef, the Board has assigned powers over strategic operations (the sale), the finance sector, strategy, communication and institutional relations. The CEO Fabio Lazzerini, confirmed, will take care of the company’s operations and personnel management. The new powers were assigned today by the board of directors in which sit Gabriella Alemanno, Ugo Arrigo, alongside the independent director Frances Ousleey (confirmed).
The new scenario after the withdrawal of Msc
The withdrawal of the Mediterranean Shipping Company, which has a deeply rooted presence in Italian ports, changes the cards on the table. The MSC-Lufthansa offer aimed at integrating cargo and passenger transport and at intermodality between sea-rail transport and airplane. The strong point of this offer was the synergies with cargo, a segment that has been experiencing consistent growth for some time and which has better resisted the pandemic emergency.
With the Lufthansa network, Milan Malpensa would establish itself as a logistics hub and Rome Fiumicino as a hub for passenger traffic, a gateway to Africa. The synergies would also be extended to Air Dolomiti, the Italian subsidiary of Lufthansa, which in the medium-haul segment ensures daily connections from the main Italian airports to the Munich and Frankfurt hubs.