Exclusive negotiations with Certares: Lufthansa doesn’t stand a chance at ITA Airways

It’s an unusual duo: Lufthansa wants to acquire ITA Airways with shipping giant MSC. The German-Swiss alliance lasted for a long time As the clear favorite in the race to succeed Alitaliathat are privatized. And so the people in Frankfurt were very confident that they would get the contract.

But last week, it became clear that competition was getting stronger: American financial company Certares, which had bid with Delta Air Lines and Air France – KLM, The Italian state promised to say more. This was an added advantage given the current balance of power in Rome. The nationalists are likely to win a majority in the elections at the end of September.

Exclusive negotiations with Syracuse Group

And now Lufthansa is already losing at the moment. The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on Wednesday (August 31) that it had started “exclusive negotiations” with Certares, Delta and Air France-KLM. Their offer is more in line with the Italian government’s goals to sell ITA.

However, at the end of the exclusive talks, binding agreements will only be signed “if the content fully satisfies the public shareholder,” according to the Finance Ministry. Both bidders have improved their bids to some extent in the past. Lufthansa and MSC recently offered about 850 million euros for 80 per cent, the group about 600 million Certares for about 58 per cent.

What will the government do after the elections?

Lufthansa’s competitors want to give the Italian state 42 percent of the ITA. According to La Repubblica, they have also allowed Italy to fill the head of the ITA and two of the five seats on the supervisory board. Apparently that went well.

That should also improve with the next Italian government, which will be elected on September 25 and likely to be nationally-minded. However, it is not certain whether it will actually abide by the declaration of intent negotiated by the current government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi.