Together with the shipping company MSC, Lufthansa wants to take over the majority in the Italian airline ITA Airways. An official expression of interest has been received from both companies, according to the Alitalia successor in a statement.

“MSC Group has agreed with Lufthansa to participate in the partnership on terms to be determined during due diligence. Both the MSC Group and Lufthansa have expressed a wish for the Italian government to retain a minority stake in the company. In addition, MSC Group and Lufthansa have requested 90 days of exclusivity to work on this Expression of Interest,” said ITA Airways.

The Italian carrier is pleased and sees the purchase interest of Lufthansa and MSC as confirmation of the work of the past few months. The Supervisory Board will meet on January 31, 2022 and pass the necessary resolutions.

For a few days now, the Italian media have been reporting unanimously that Lufthansa could get involved with a 40 percent stake. If this should be implemented, it can be deduced that MSC could hold 11 percent. This is based on the assumption that 51 percent is bought and the government stays on board with 49 percent. It is also conceivable that MSC and Lufthansa jointly acquire larger shares.

In this context, it also seems interesting that ITA Airways brand Alitalia wants to revive. Various options were hinted at, but it was explicitly ruled out that a kind of "low-cost offshoot" should be created. The Supervisory Board will also discuss this topic on January 31, 2022. Shortly before the start of operations, ITA Airways was able to acquire the rights to the predecessor's brand at a price of 90 million euros Secure night and fog action.