After the retreat of EasyJet and Atlantia, a new path is opening up for the rescue of Alitalia. At the end of March, when Minister Luigi Di Maio traveled to the United States, contacts began between the Government and Riccardo Toto, former owner of AirOne, the company which later merged into the all-Italian Alitalia commissioned by Silvio Berlusconi. Not only that: in 2011 Toto took over another airline, Livingstone, which stopped flying in 2014 and went bankrupt in 2015. Also in 2011 Toto bought back from the Benettons a share of the A24, the Autostrada dei Parchi in Abruzzo, becoming its main concessionaire with the 60%.
The deputy premier and minister of economic development is leading the negotiations in person, who has now transformed the issue into a sort of personal battle. After all, for the Executive it is unthinkable to let the national airline go bankrupt one step away from the European elections. In Di Maio's intentions, the match should end by next Tuesday, the date agreed with the Alitalia commissioners.
So far, the project for the future shareholding structure of the company envisages a controlling stake in the hands of the State (30% in the hands of Ferrovie and 15% directly in the Treasury), plus another 15% in the American company Delta (especially interested in not miss shared intercontinental routes). The US company is also guaranteeing a stake in China Easter, even if Beijing is holding back a lot on this involvement. If in the end the Chinese backed down, another 40% of Alitalia's capital would be left uncovered. A small part of this share would go to an Italian fund specializing in the recovery of companies in difficulty, "Quattro R" (first CDP shareholder). The rest (from 20 to 30%, depending on the presence or absence of the Chinese) would be assigned precisely to the Toto family, which would invest around 250 million euros.
It cannot be excluded that in order to define this plan in detail, the three commissioners (Gianfranco Discepolo, Enrico Laghi and Stefano Paleari) may be asked for an extension of another month, therefore until May, to present the formal offer, give life at the Newco and attempt the umpteenth rescue of Alitalia. ;\lsdp
