Exclusive negotiations burst: Lufthansa gets a new chance at Ita Airways

In August, Lufthansa suffers a defeat in its takeover plans for the Italian Ita Airways: Rome decides on exclusive negotiations with the competition. However, these have now collapsed. The German airline should have good chances in talks with the new government.

Negotiations on the sale of the Italian Ita Airways to the US investment fund Certares together with Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines have burst for the time being. According to Italian media reports, the Ministry of Finance announced late Monday evening that the obligation for exclusive negotiations, which had been running since August 31, had come to an end. The authority is the sole owner of the Alitalia successor.

The race for Ita has reopened, and the former competitors MSC and Lufthansa would have another chance. According to media reports, the Indigo Partners fund, to which the low-cost airline Wizz Air belongs, is also in the starting blocks.

“We are monitoring the situation,” said a Lufthansa spokesman. The Italian market is still interesting for the group. “We are still interested in a transaction with a real privatization.” Together with the Swiss-based cruise and container giant MSC, Lufthansa had offered to take over 80 percent of Ita. Lufthansa would then have accounted for 20 percent. The participation would have been an important step for the Germans in the Italian market, which is dominated by low-cost providers such as Ryanair.

A new government is now in power in Rome, led by the ultra-right Giorgia Meloni. In the Ministry of Finance, it is no longer the former director of the National Bank and non-party expert Daniele Franco who is in charge, but Giancarlo Giorgetti. The right-wing Lega politician is said to have always been in favor of exclusive negotiations with MSC and Lufthansa, as he saw a strong partner in the Germans.

Ita took off for the first time on October 15, 2021 and, according to its own statements, transported nine million passengers within a year. The company has 69 aircraft, serving the domestic, European and intercontinental markets.