Air France-KLM says won’t bid for stake in Italy’s ITA

Air France-KLM said Wednesday that it had decided not to bid for a stake in Italian rival ITA Airways after Italy’s government required candidates to commit to taking majority ownership.

In association with Delta Air Lines and the US investment fund Certares, Air France-KLM had been in negotiations to buy a stake as part of the airline’s privatisation.

“Air France-KLM has informed the Italian government that the group will not lodge an offer for part of ITA’s share capital,” the airline told AFP in a statement.

It cited a recent decree by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government that “requires companies to buy a majority of ITA shares at each stage of the privatisation, and eventually to hold the majority of ITA shares upon the government’s total exit.”

“We will continue to closely follow the privatisation and confirm our strong interest in maintaining commercial agreements with ITA as a member of the SkyTeam alliance.”

Air France-KLM and its partners were the only remaining candidates after Lufthansa and the Swiss maritime shipping giant MSC abandoned their bid last November.

ITA was formed from the remains of flag carrier Alitalia, which was placed in administration in 2017 after racking up years of losses despite billions of euros in state support.

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