MSC comes out of the closet: 'We want to buy ITA Airways together with Lufthansa'
While the whole world, political and otherwise, was focused today on the first call for the election of the president of the Republic, it is [...]
Lufthansa
Star Alliance
While the whole world, political and otherwise, was focused today on the first call for the election of the President of the Republic, came the official note from the global shipping giant MSC: "We are interested in entering the share capital of ITA Airways".
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The news is a real earthshaker. "The MSC Group has expressed to the Italian government its interest in acquiring a majority stake in ITA Airways," the statement reads, "The objective is to create a partnership with the Italian government and the company Lufthansa as an industrial partner in the project.
Thus, for the first time, the intention on the part of the German Lufthansa group is put down in black and white. to officially enter the shareholding structure of the new Italian flag carrier.
If Altavilla was looking for the strong partner with stable Italian roots, he found him. The MSC Group has not only recently become the world's top player in shipping, but with an ambitious expansion program aims to become the world's third largest player in the cruise industry, and may be the first to also own an airline the size of ITA Airways.
"MSC's interest stems from the possibility of activating positive synergies for both companies in both the cargo and passenger sectors in which the group is a global leader," the note continues. MSC and Lufthansa, "following today's expression of interest, request an exclusivity period of 90 working days and subject to regulatory approvals and due diligence."
ITA Airways in turn announced today that it has received an Expression of Interest from the MSC Group and Lufthansa to acquire the majority stake in the company.
Both the MSC Group and Lufthansa expressed their desire for the Italian government to retain a minority stake in the company. In addition, they have requested 90 days of exclusivity to work on this Expression of Interest.
"ITA Airways is satisfied that the work done in recent months to offer the best prospects to the company is beginning to have the expected results, that is, a company recognized as viable for partners of international caliber on both passenger and cargo transport," the carrier said. The BoD will review the details of the Expression of Interest itself at a future meeting."
