Etihad Airways to acquire 49% of Alitalia airline

Abu Dhabi's state-owned Etihad Airways said today it had agreed principal terms and conditions to buy a 49 per cent stake in Italy's loss-making airline Alitalia.

A tie-up with cash-rich Etihad is seen as a last chance to turn around Italy’s flagship carrier, which has made an annual profit only a few times in its 68-year history and received numerous state handouts before being privatised in 2008.

The two airlines will now finalise the deal as soon as possible, subject to regulatory approvals, they said in a joint statement without elaborating on the terms of the deal.

The board of troubled Alitalia voted on June 13 to accept an offer by Etihad to invest, but did not give details. Italy's transport minister Maurizio Lupi has said

Etihad, which owns nearly 5 per cent of Aer Lingus, is prepared to invest up to €1.25 billion over the next four years.

The two carriers have been in talks since December, but a deal has so far been elusive due to Italy’s reluctance to bow to Etihad’s conditions over job cuts of around 2,200 and a restructuring of the airline’s debt.

But as Alitalia is expected to run out of cash by August, sources have said the company, the Italian government - which considers the airline a strategic national asset - and trade unions have little choice but to accept a deal on Etihad’s terms.

Intesa Sanpaolo, which is both one of Alitalia's creditors and a key shareholder, is convinced a deal on debt restructuring will be reached, hopefully by the end of July, the chairman of the bank's management board Gianmaria Gros Pietro said yesterday. Mr Gros Pietro said July 31st was the date set by Etihad to conclude the deal.

Reuters