Airlines
Lufthansa Offers To Buy Stake in Italy’s ITA Airways
Lufthansa has eyed participation in ITA and its predecessor Alitalia for years, and now appears to stand as the only interested party in the flag carrier.
An ITA Airbus A320 departs Brussels International Airport. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-ND) by LV Aircraft Photography)
An ITA Airbus A320 departs Brussels International Airport. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-ND) by LV Aircraft Photography)

Lufthansa has submitted an offer to the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance to buy a stake in the capital of the country’s flag carrier airline, ITA Airways. “The plan is to agree on the initial acquisition of a minority stake as well as on options to purchase the remaining shares at a later date,” Lufthansa confirmed in a statement on Wednesday. It did not disclose financial details, but according to Italian media, the German group would initially acquire a 40 percent shareholding through a reserved capital increase worth between €300 million and €350 million.

If successful, Lufthansa’s bid would mark the end of the challenging privatization process of ITA Airways, which it initiated just months after it started operations in mid-October 2021 as the successor airline of bankrupt Alitalia. The Italian state owns 100 percent of the capital of ITA Airways.

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