Alitalia, the bankrupt Italian flag carrier, may be coming to the end of its drawn-out quest for new life with news that Delta and EasyJet are in serious talks with Italy’s state-owned rail carrier to invest in a ‘new’ Alitalia.
Under the rumored deal, reported in a number of financial industry publications, Delta and EasyJet would share about 40% ownership in the new company, in return for an investment of about 400 million Euros. The rest would be held by FS Italiane, the rail operator (about 30%) and the rest by FS’s financial partners.
The ‘new’ company would retain all of Alitalia’s assets, but would not be responsible for its past debts. The FS involvement was a last-minute surprise after numbers of airlines bid on all or part of Alitalia, either to walk away because of potential restrictions on restructuring or to be put on hold because Italy was unwilling to accept a shutdown of the brand.
EasyJet is a top competitor of Ryanair, which has become Italy’s largest domestic airline, while Delta is a long-standing Alitalia partner, both through the SkyTeam Alliance, and through Alitalia’s connection to Delta’s trans-Atlantic joint venture with AirFrance/KLM and Virgin Atlantic.
No timeline has been announced for completion of discussions, if they succeed.
