Ita Airways, six weeks to sign the agreement with Lufthansa then green light to the relaunch plan – Corriere.it

Within a few days, the Ministry of the Economy could sign the memorandum of understanding that Lufthansa sent in the afternoon of January 18 to enter Ita Airways with a minority stake. The document has already been signed by the German airline and proposes 6 weeks of exclusive negotiations to reach an agreement, even if those who follow the dossier believe that less time should be needed. what they explain to Corriere della Sera two government sources who add that the documentation being evaluated by MEF technicians.

The formal steps

The same sources fix the end of February as the moment to allow Lufthansa to take control of the fate of the Italian carrier and try to adjust the summer programming, the time frame in which the sector records the highest revenues. For this to happen it means that the agreement between the Treasury and Lufthansa should be signed by mid-February with the indication subject to, emphasizing that the agreement will become effective when the go-ahead from the regulatory authorities arrives, starting with the EU Antitrust.

The approach of the Mef

When Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti took office in the Treasury, he not only decided to follow the Ita dossier personally – focusing on the Lufthansa option because it was judged the only one capable of guaranteeing a future for the Italian carrier -, but he also tried to minimize the blabbermouth about the process. This also explains the reserve and caution of these days. Moreover, the government sources recall the presence of a consortium that works against the privatization of the Italian carrier, the same – they continue – that had triumphed last summer when the purely financial offer of the Certares fund was preferred to that, considered more solid industrially, by MSC and Lufthansa.

The reserved capital increase

Once the Mef has signed the memorandum of understanding – barring hitches which certainly arose in the Ita dossier – it will be up to the board of directors of the tricolor carrier to give the go-ahead thus triggering the six weeks of exclusive negotiations: the board of the airline has a meeting on January 27 that can also be anticipated. At that point, government sources explain, Lufthansa will also examine the draft industrial plan with a five-year horizon together with the Mef and Ita. The approach provides for a reserved capital increase by Lufthansa of up to 40% of the shares of Italia Trasporto Aereo Spa (the public company that owns Ita) for 250-300 million euros which will go into the coffers of the Italian airline.

The EU Antitrust

The signing of the final agreement is expected in six weeks, which will become effective once Lufthansa and ITA have been given the go-ahead to proceed by the supervisory authorities, such as the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition. In theory, it could take 5-6 months for Brussels to green light, but insiders believe that 2-3 months should be enough. For now, the only element of complexity could be Linate (where Ita dominates in terms of slots) and Rome Fiumicino where, as he recently explained to Courier by CEO Michael O’Leary, Ryanair will ask for the release of some take-off and landing rights.

The change of alliance

One of the issues that Ita and Lufthansa will have to face together is the transition from the SkyTeam alliance (where the Italians are together with Delta Air Lines and Air France-Klm) to Star Alliance (where the Germans are): technically it takes 6-12 months for the move and this will have an impact in the summer season (end of March-end of October for air transport), the period of greatest revenues for carriers. For this reason, in the event of an agreement in the intermediate period, Ita would remain in SkyTeam, starting the exit process in the meantime. The penalty – according to the filters – would amount to 1.5 million dollars, even if insiders do not rule out a higher figure.