How Lufthansa protects itself in the ITA takeover

Rome – Italy wants to conduct an ITA sale before new elections. Lufthansa, MSC and the rival alliance of Air France-KLM, Delta and Certares presented their final offers on Monday. Bidders protect themselves from residual underlying political risk with a contractual penalty.

Giorgia Meloni has a good chance to replace Mario Draghi as Italy’s next prime minister. Meloni’s post-fascist party Fratelli d’Italia is leading in opinion polls ahead of a snap parliamentary election on September 25 – and has reservations about the privatization of the ITA.

The process had been delayed for months, and now it should be fast: Lufthansa, MSC, a consortium of Air France-KLM, Delta and Certares have followed suit. Information from the newspaper “Corriere della Sera” They submitted their final bids for the acquisition to the Finance Ministry on Monday afternoon.

According to Chambers, Lufthansa and MSC are offering 850 million euros for 80 per cent of the ITA – but they insist on entrepreneurial freedom to operate after the acquisition. The Certares camp only wants to acquire more than 60 percent of the ITA for 650 million euros and give Italy a greater role on the board.

Italian unions recently spoke out in favor of the MSC and Lufthansa award. “ITA cannot do it alone, the solution with MSC and Lufthansa is a good solution from an economic point of view,” said CGIL’s Fabrizio Cosquito. Even within the current Draghi government, there is said to be a trend in favor of Lufthansa and Lufthansa MSC.

“It is not my intention to leave this decision to the next government,” Draghi explained with the intention of privatizing the Information Technology Authority. Lufthansa chief Carsten Spohr also recently called for more speed. “We can’t watch the process drag on forever because it damages the ITA,” Spohr said in Frankfurt at the beginning of the month.

Fratelli d’Italia’s deputy, Fabio Rambelli, interpreted this as an attempt to intimidate. “We are not under the rule of the German Reich,” Rambelli said in the summer of the Italian election campaign, in a blow to Lufthansa.

85 million euros fine

There is no way around the privatization of the ITA, even for a new government – the EU Commission is breathing in Italy’s neck: the ITA should not be placed under permanent drip for Italian taxpayers like its predecessor Alitalia. However, the legal alliance can insist on a stronger role for the state.

Lufthansa and MSC want to protect the takeover from bad post-election surprises. If the new government reopens a deal before the expected shutdown in December, Italy will have to pay a fine. According to “Corriere della Sera”, 5 to 10 percent of the acquisition amount is in the room: 42.5 to 85 million euros.

© aero.de | Fig: Airbus | 23.08.2022 10:30