There are 7 knots they have to untie MSc-Lufthansa e Certares, the two consortiums interested in buying the majority of Ita Airways. And hence the challengers' race against time. The third binding offer must be presented by 23.59 pm on 22 August and in view of the now imminent deadline, the advisors of the Ministry of Economy have sent the official communication with the request to the interested parties to clarify some points, from the price to the quotas up to the exit of the state. The Treasury - currently the only shareholder of Ita - is not satisfied with the offers and is trying to figure out if it can get more.
The Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, explained in the last press conference that the Ita dossier would be closed shortly. The problem is that the closer we get to the elections, the more we risk ending up in the cross-veto. Here's what they are 7 points contained in official letters.
The price
Obviously the value of Ita Airways is at the center: last July 5 - when the new offers were sent - MSC-Lufthansa estimated the price at 800-850 million, 600 million for Certares. The Treasury wants to raise the bar, a scenario that is not easy to achieve given that according to experts, over time the price is bound to go down again.
Quotes
The privatization decree explains that the State will remain in the shareholding of Ita Airways at the beginning, and then leave it at a later time. So here comes the chapter rate. For MSC-Lufthansa, the Treasury must not go beyond 20%, leaving 60% to MSC and 20% to Lufthansa. The US fund is willing to leave 40% to the MEF which in any case aims for a share of more than 20% or which guarantees it greater specific weight in important decisions.
Governance
Closely related to the quote speech, there is the governance. In the MSC-Lufthansa working hypothesis we think about a board of directors of 5 representatives: 3 from MSC, 1 from Lufthansa and 1 from the MEF. Also for Certaresil the Board would still have 5 members: 3 for the US fund, 2 for the ministry. In any case, the Treasury asks to have the last word on some decisive decisions for the future of the company, from the network to the alliances.
The strategies
Another critical point. There is little belief regarding the strategy which will be followed once the sale is completed: the Treasury would like to maintain autonomy on strategies regarding investments and fleet management, a point not shared especially with the MSC-Lufthansa group.
The management
The government would also like to have the power to veto on management future of the company. The Americans of Cetares could show themselves more open to this solution, while the consortium of the two giants would only like to discuss the selection of the direction with the Italian government, without however submitting to its decisions.
Budgets
The Treasury is not convinced of the financial situation of the buyers, especially of Cetares. For this reason, the Ministry has processed the request to be able to analyze balance sheets of the companies concerned.
The exit of the state
It is one of the most important nodes. Since the decree provides for the MEF's exit from the shareholding structure, the ministry would like to see how much it intends to pay the winning consortium in a few years when the Treasury leaves the company to be put on paper already today. But it is a calculation, the experts reason, which is difficult to do especially in a context full of unknown factors (pandemic, wars, inflation, recession and price increases) and which easily lends itself to over-evaluation. Which would be good for the public coffers, but not for the winning consortium.
