Ita has a future, and speaks German. Yet another hectic day to define the final details, finally theagreement which confirms the long-awaited ‘yes’ to wedding between Ita and Lufthansa.
After a weekend of tight negotiations, the Mef and the German ski giant signed the agreement on the final plan at the last minute, which was then sent quickly to Brussels respecting the deadline set for 11.59pm. After the dispute that exploded at the beginning of last week over Frankfurt’s request for a discount on the price which had infuriated the Treasury – not willing to give in to “blackmail” and “sell off” the newco – the Germans have given up on the race to the bottom .
“The economic conditions envisaged” in the Italian-German alliance contract signed in July 2023 “have not undergone changes”, specifies the Mef in issuing the announcement.
Italy-Lufthansa (HANDLE)
He now “confidently” awaits final approval from the European Commission to proceed. A positive final judgment that the European antitrust is ready to issue without further twists and turns.
The latest round of negotiations revolved around the second tranche of the overall investment of 829 million euros that the German giant led by the inflexible CEO Carsten Spohr is called upon to pay to take control of the Italian company that arose from the ashes of Alitalia. In the last few hours, the Mef and Lufthansa have tried to restore the trust lost in recent days: having received the Italian no to the request for a discount, the Germans have reversed course to save a strategic agreement. First, by reducing his demands on the price and asking, say qualified sources, a reduction of less than ten million. Finally, giving up the possibility of deferring the purchase of 49% of Ita – the second installment of the investment – and the price adjustment clause.
The Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti, the president of Ita Angelo Turicchi and the CEO of Lufthansa Carsten Spohr during the presentation of the merger between the two airlines in Rome, 3 July 2024 (lapresse)
TO mend the tear it was the team of general director of the Economy department and head of subsidiaries, Marcello Sala.
Shortly after 11pm the package of commitments to protect the balance of the skies arrived on the table of the EU antitrust authority. Among the documents also i contracts signed by rival carriers to ensure competition in market segments deemed critical. The identikit of the competitors corresponds to the names of Easyjet for the Milan-Linate hub and the ten short-haul routes between Italy and Central Europe – with destination Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria – and Air France And Iag (parent company of British Airways and Iberia) for transoceanic connections between Fiumicino and Washington, San Francisco and Toronto. Solutions viewed favorably by the EU which, in all likelihood, will give its final green light by the end of the month.
Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Antitrust in Brussels will have to give the final approval (AP)
Even in these turbulent days in Brussels we have always continued to preach trust. In fact, the sale price of the new company had no relevance in the eyes of the antitrust technicians, who were focused only on respecting the commitments developed in the arduous political agreement reached with Rome and Frankfurt on 3 July.
Now the technicians of Margrethe Vestager’s antitrust team they will take a few days to evaluate the package and grant, by the end of November, a final green light destined to represent one of the last acts of the Vestager era. Immediately afterwards, it will be time for Lufthansa to join the ITA board: everything, as Spohr had already announced in recent weeks, suggests that alliance will take flight ‘early 2025’.
