Administrators at troubled Italian carrier Alitalia have confirmed that they have received seven offers for the airline’s assets, following the expiry of the extended Oct. 16 bid deadline.
“Seven envelopes have been delivered today at the Atlante Cerasi associate notary’s office in Rome. The special commissioners of Alitalia will now begin evaluating the envelopes,” Alitalia said in an Oct. 16 statement.
While the identity of the majority of the bidders remains confidential, UK LCC easyJet and Germany’s Lufthansa Group have each confirmed that they are in the running.
Irish LCC Ryanair initially submitted a non-binding expression of interest, but withdrew from the process to focus on resolving crewing issues which have caused huge disruption for the airline. Ryanair had previously said it was bidding to buy around 90 Alitalia aircraft.
Alitalia entered administration in May, after employees rejected the labor agreement that was needed to unlock funding for a restructuring plan. Italy’s government has pumped in hundreds of millions of euros to keep the airline going until a buyer is found.
Victoria Moores victoria.moores@penton.com
