Italy would not mind Air France purchase of Alitalia after all

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government appears to have changed its position on a possible purchase of Alitalia by Air France-KLM. This past spring, Berlusconi ran a campaign that was harshly critical of the previous centre-left government’s decision to sell Alitalia to the Franco-Dutch company, and promised that if elected, he would find a consortium of Italian investors instead. Since then Berlusconi has been elected, Air France-KLM cancelled its bid to buy the Italian flag carrier due to the new prime minister’s hostility to the deal , and that same government has now decided that it would welcome Air France-KLM back to the negotiating table after all.

Although 16 Italian investors have reportedly pledged that they would pump up to €1 billion into the near insolvent national airline and while there are plans to create a new company that would take control of Alitalia’s more promising units, the Italian government has apparently come to realize that it still needs to convince a major foreign airline to buy a stake in the resurrected flag carrier if it is to be successful in the future. The country’s infrastructure minister has now gone on the record as saying that his government would be “pleased” if Air France-KLM decided to partner with the soon to be restructured airline. There are reports that the bank entrusted with Alitalia’s privatization may try to meet with Air France representatives in the near future.

www.alitalia.com