Italy and Lufthansa seal ITA Airways deal

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Italy and Lufthansa seal ITA Airways deal

12:07 CAT | 16 Jan 2025

Lufthansa now has operational control of ITA, even if Italy - which previously had a 100 per cent stake - retains the right of review over strategic decisions. [Image: AFP]

Italy and Lufthansa finalised their agreement Wednesday for the German airline to acquire a minority stake in ITA Airways, the state-owned carrier born from the ashes of Alitalia.

Joerg Eberhart, Lufthansa’s chief strategy officer, was appointed chief executive of ITA Airways at a shareholders meeting that sealed the union.

“After more than two years of hard work, this new phase in the company’s history will allow us to strengthen our position and develop strategic synergies that will enhance the growth and solidity of ITA Airways as a leading Italian carrier,” he said in a statement.

Lufthansa now has operational control of ITA, even if the Italian state — which previously had a 100 percent stake — retains the right of review over strategic decisions.

It marks the first step in a marriage that has been in the works for some time.

Lufthansa has acquired a 41 percent minority stake in ITA Airways through a 325 million euro capital increase.

This will gradually increase to 100 percent, for a total price set at 829 million euros ($853 million).

“ITA is the biggest acquisition in Lufthansa’s history,” the carrier’s chief executive, Carsten Spohr, said on Monday.

The final hurdle was overcome in November when the European Commission approved a series of measures proposed by Lufthansa and Rome to allow the sale to go through.

The prerequisites mandated by Brussels involved selling a certain number of airport slots to other airlines in order to safeguard competition.

The agreement dates back to May 2023, after years of fruitless searches by Italy for a buyer for ITA’s predecessor, Alitalia.

ITA Airways was created in October 2021 after Alitalia was declared bankrupt. It had been under public administration since 2017.

Over the years, the state had paid out more than 13 billion euros to bail out the national carrier.

Lufthansa had previously tried twice to acquire a stake in Alitalia, in 2009 and 2019.

The German group, whose holdings include Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings, Swiss and another Italian carrier, Air Dolomiti, is expected with ITA to strengthen its position on the American continent as well as in Africa and Asia.