MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Air One is ready to make a binding bid to buy
the 49.9 pct stake in Alitalia SpA that the Italian state is selling, but needs
three weeks to carry out the due diligence, said chairman Carlo Toto in an
interview with Saturday's daily la Repubblica.
In December, the Italian government chose Air France-KLM as its preferred
bidder for the stake, rejecting a non-binding offer from AP Holding, which owns
Air One.
Air France-KLM's current offer is subject to a series of conditions --
including agreement with unions and Milan airport operator SEA dropping a 1.25
bln eur damage claim -- that have to be met by March 31.
Talks between unions and Air France will resume tomorrow, but the
Franco-Dutch group has indicated it has presented a 'take or leave offer' on
which there is very little room to compromise.
The interview with Toto comes as centre-right coalition leader Silvio
Berlusconi, favoured to win the April 13-14 general elections, urged Italian
groups to counter-bid for Alitalia, as he considers the offer made by Air
France-KLM in the middle of March to be inadequate.
According to a report in Saturday's La Stampa, Berlusconi is trying to
convince a group of businessmen that historically has been close to him to make
an offer for the airline.
Saturday's La Stampa said that this group could side with Air One and be
backed by Deutsche Lufthansa as an international partner. Lufthansa already has
a code-sharing agreement with Air One.
In an interview with Sunday's Corriere della Sera daily, Lufthansa vice
chairman Karsten Benz said that Italy for his airline "is a fully booming
market. It is growing a lot, especially in the North. We already added several
flights and we are ready to do even more."
He added that while the code-sharing agreement with Air One works well, "Air
One is an independent company that takes all its decisions on its own, including
those (decisions) on Alitalia."
In an interview with Sunday's La Stampa daily, Roberto Formigoni, the
governor of the region of Lombardy, where Milan's Malpensa airport is located,
said that "we are working on" a group of businessmen interested in presenting an
offer for Alitalia that is in alternative to the one of Air France.
"Even if it is Easter, between yesterday (Saturday) and today I received
another two telephone calls businessmen that want to take part to this
initiative of national pride," Formigoni told the daily.
"Things are serious, to the point that they are about to be presented
publicly. But before writing a check these businessmen have the right to have
the time to look at the figures of Alitalia. Air France had three months to
study everything," he added.
Asked about who is taking part in this group of businessmen, Formigoni said
that they were "important Italian groups with the interest of also international
players." He would not elaborate further.
But if a decision for the ailing airline is not taken soon, the prospects
look dire.
Italian dailies Sunday quoted Italian economy minister Tommaso
Padoa-Schioppa as saying that the airline "has oxygen for a few weeks".
In an interview in Sunday's Corriere della Sera daily, Italian economic
development minister Pier Luigi Bersani said that if a deal is not reached with
Air France by the end of this month, Alitalia will go bankrupt.
On the possibility of an alternative offer, Bersani said that "if it hasn't
emerged in 15 months, I don't know if it will emerge in one night only because
Berlusconi calls for one.
"In any case, if a real offer were to be expressed, it would be taken into
consideration, but not just talk."
yael.schrage@thomson.com
ysc/vs
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