Italy seeks Alitalia buyers
ROME, May 30 (Reuters) – Italy issued new rules for the sale of Alitalia on Friday, its third attempt in nearly 18 months to find a buyer for the airline that is struggling for survival after a takeover by Air France-KLM fell apart. The new conservative government, which took office this month, said it would seek one or more buyers for the carrier after approving a decree that changes privatisation rules and eliminates the need for an auction.
Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti blamed the previous centre-left administration, which first put the state’s 49.9 percent stake in Alitalia up for sale in December 2006, for failing to close the deal successfully.
“We have learned lessons from the past 18 months,” Tremonti told a news conference after a cabinet meeting approved the new sale rules.
“There is a crisis, there is a failure of the privatisation process and Air France is not there anymore,” he said.
Under the new rules, the government will not be obliged to disclose all sensitive information to the market during the sale process, unlike the normal requirement for listed companies, Tremonti said.
He added that potential bidders would have access to Alitalia’s financial data.
Intesa Sanpaolo will advise on the sale, Tremonti said, adding that Italy’s biggest bank was free to decide whether to take part itself in any bid. He gave no timeframe for the sale, only saying “the sooner, the better”.
Tremonti also defended his decision this week to turn a 300-million euro government loan to the airline into company capital, saying it was the only way to prevent it from going bankrupt or being put under special administration.
That loan is being scrutinised by the European Commission to see whether it violates rules barring state aid.
Alitalia said on Tuesday it had posted a 2007 loss of 495 million euros ($778.3 million) and reiterated it quickly needed fresh capital to keep flying.
The centre-left government’s first attempt to sell Alitalia in an auction ended in failure last July when all the bidders pulled out.
The company later began exclusive talks with Air France-KLM after rejecting a rival offer from smaller Italian airline Air One.
But that deal also fell apart because of union opposition and political pressures, as the future of the national carrier turned into a top campaigning issue ahead of an April election won by conservative leader Silvio Berlusconi.
Berlusconi has repeatedly promised that an Italian consortium of investors will rescue the airline, but the bidders have so far failed to emerge.