The European Commission has given the
final green light to Lufthansa's acquisition of a minority
stake in Italy's ITA Airways, paving the way to the creation of
the largest airline group in Europe.
The final package of commitments sent by the Italian Economy and
Finance Ministry (MEF), by the German airline and by the Italian
carrier on November 11, after a long series of tensions, was
deemed "coherent" with the an agreement already approved by
Brussels on July 3.
"We are satisfied with this new step, now we can go through the
last mile", Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said late
Friday after the Commission said it had approved the package.
Lufthansa for its part said the authorization represented an
important milestone, explaining that the final closing of the
agreement "is currently expected for the beginning of 2025".
Earlier this month, the MEF and Lufthansa reached a breakthrough
in talks to overcome a problem that had put the German company's
merger with ITA Airways on ice.
The Treasury said the economic conditions envisaged in the 2023
contract for the merger did not undergo any changes.
As a result of the breakthrough, the documents for the operation
were signed and sent to the European Commission for final
approval.
According to the agreement reached last year, the German airline
is acquiring from a 41% stake in ITA from MEF through a 325
million-euro capital increase, with the stake set to rise to
100% in a second phase - by 2033 - for a total investment of 829
million.
Under the package approved on Friday, EasyJet and Air France KLM
would secure more routes.
The MEF owns ITA, the company that replaced the loss-making
former flag-carrier Alitalia in 2021.
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