Lufthansa presents an offer for a 20% stake in ITA Airways-source | Photo credits: Lufthansa/John Crozier
FRANKFURT, May 24 (Reuters) – Lufthansa wants to take a 20% stake in Italian airline ITA Airways (formerly Alitalia) while shipping giant MSC would take a 60% stake, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The Italian state would retain the remaining 20% initially, the source said. Lufthansa and MSG – also known as Mediterranean Shipping Group – presented their offer to acquire a majority stake on Monday.
The Italian press reported that ITA was worth between one and two billion euros. Lufthansa declined to comment on these figures.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the investment fund Certares has presented a competing offer in cooperation with Air France-KLM and the American airline Delta.
An arbitration between the two offers is expected in the coming weeks, the sale should be concluded by the end of June.
Italy’s new national flag carrier officially replaced Alitalia last October, ending the carrier’s 75-year existence, which had long been a symbol of Italian style and glamor before it suffered major financial setbacks. (Report Ilona Wissenbach, written by Paul Carrel; French version Valentine Baldassari)