Wedding done and without discounts. The agreement between Ita Airways and Lufthansa was signed without changes to the price and sent to the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission. The negotiations were blocked last week due to cost issues and at midnight today the deadline for sending the agreement to Brussels expired, which must turn on the final green light. Agreement reached and documents sent at the last minute.
After intense negotiations, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) rejected the request for a discount made by the German company, consolidating the transaction at the initial economic conditions. The details sent to Brussels thus marked the end of any possible price reduction, paving the way towards the closing expected between the end of the year and the beginning of 2025.
Lufthansa’s interest in ITA therefore involves an investment of 829 million euros, with an initial participation of 41%. The investment plan includes a capital increase of 325 million euros, while the remaining 49% will be completed in a subsequent phase. In recent days, market rumors suggested that Lufthansa was aiming for a reduction in the purchase price of between 50 and 200 million euros, trying to lighten the impact of the second and third instalments. However, the MEF resisted pressure, avoiding any concessions, while Minister Giorgetti confirmed his desire not to “give in to blackmail or sell out”.
The dossier is now in the hands of the European Commission, with the opinion expected by November. Brussels has focused attention on agreements for the sale of slots in strategic airports such as Linate and Malpensa, as well as on some intercontinental routes from Fiumicino to the United States and Canada. In particular, Lufthansa and Ita have signed commitments to cede take-off and landing rights on ten European routes from Linate and three intercontinental routes. If Brussels, as everything suggests, definitively approves, the marriage between ITA and Lufthansa could receive the final green light within the month. And within sixty days, Lufthansa will operationally enter the governance of Ita Airways, with a board of directors with a German majority (3 of the 5 seats) and a new CEO (the favorite would be Joerg Eberhart, expert Lufthansa strategist and former CEO of Air Dolomiti). The Mef will maintain its own representative and the presidency of the company (the most accredited name is that of Armando Varricchio, current Italian ambassador to Germany).
