Ita Airways, Mef and Lufthansa seek peace after the rift

Between the Ministry of the Economy and Lufthansa, who came close to breaking up at the very last mile of the complex operation to enter Ita Airways with a minority share of the German group, it is time to try to patch things up. After having entrusted the skein to their respective teams of technicians and lawyers who have been working to find a common ground, the last word is entrusted to the Minister of the Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti, and the CEO of Lufthansa, Carsten Spohr.

Speaking in Montecitorio in the early afternoon, at the end of the hearing on the budget bill convened by the House and Senate budget commissions, Giorgetti replied to reporters who asked him whether he would be meeting Lufthansa's CEO at the weekend, saying 'it would be appropriate'. Mouths were sealed at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and also at Ita and Lufthansa, who did not comment on the news from European sources on a meeting scheduled for Sunday, nor on the rumours circulating in trade union circles of talks between the two as early as yesterday afternoon.

The subject of the dispute is not the EUR 325 million capital increase through the acquisition of 41% of Ita Airways by Lufthansa. What provoked the 'strong irritation' of the Mef, as sole shareholder of Ita Airways, was Lufthansa's request for a downward revision of the company's value, on the occasion of the payment to the Mef of the second tranche of the investment for the acquisition of 49%, which according to the timing should take place when the company has become profitable, therefore in 2025. Recalling a clause in the agreement of the beginning of July, the Germans, in order to update downwards the value of the company, would have taken the fourth quarter of 2024 as a reference, when the cash of the airlines traditionally decreases, and asked to discount from the price the investments made for the renewal of the air fleet.

To have a term of comparison, considering that Lufthansa's overall investment - including the acquisition of the last 10% of Ita's capital between 2028-2029 - is estimated at 829 million, the discount would be requested on a portion of the remaining 504 million to be paid directly to the Mef. Sources close to Frankfurt had calculated the request for a discount at around 10 million, but according to estimates by the Italian government the value of the discount requested would be much higher, it could range from 50 to 200 million, depending on the variables taken into consideration.

For Minister Giorgetti, this request was a wake-up call, the candidate partner in Ita Airways would prove to be unreliable. Against this backdrop, the Mef has decided not to sign the contracts, already signed by Ita Airways and Lufthansa, to be sent to Brussels, with the names of competitors to be entrusted with market segments to prevent the marriage between Ita Airways and Lufthansa from creating a monopoly to the detriment of consumers. There is time until Monday to send these contracts with so-called remedy takers to the European Commission, although the deadline is not considered peremptory, should it take a few more days to close a deal.