Lufthansa has no intention of buying Alitalia. The financial director of the German company Ulrik Svensson specified it today in no uncertain terms.
The rumors circulating yesterday, filtered above all by the unions and concerning a possible interest of Lufthansa in the former national airline, are therefore denied in no uncertain terms: “We have a clear intention not to buy Alitalia”. It remains to be seen whether the German group is willing to buy individual assets of the company, even if the Minister of Infrastructure Graziano Delrio just yesterday ruled out the possibility of selling shares in the company "in pieces".
The future of Italian society is therefore becoming more difficult day by day. There seems to be no one on the horizon ready to replace Etihad as a shareholder after the no victory in the referendum on restructuring.
No interest in Alitalia either from state Railways who this morning confirmed that he had had no contact.
The CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo also intervened on the matter Charles Messina who explained that "there is no plan B" for Alitalia carried out by the bank. Responding to the rumors relating to possible "movements" by Intesa in order to find an alternative plan, the CEO stated: "It is not up to us to do so. We are a bank, a company that deals with credit, not with planes”.
"Any solution that can guarantee the business continuity of Alitalia and therefore can safeguard jobs would be the right choice", concluded Messina.
We recall that Banca Intesa's current exposure to Alitalia is 185 million, to which must be added 74 million of fair value on derivatives to hedge fuel costs.
In the meantime, the Government also dissociates itself: “The government is not willing to participate, directly or indirectly, to a capital increase of Alitalia”. This was stated by the Minister of Economy, Pier Carlo Padoan, answering the Chamber to a question which hypothesized a public bailout of the company also through the Cassa depositi e prestiti. Alitalia "is a private company and the outcome of its activity can be attributed exclusively to the decisions of the shareholders and management", said the owner of Via XX Settembre.
