FRANKFURT/ROME (dpa-AFX) - Lufthansa has taken the first step in the takeover of the Italian state airline Ita. According to the company, the MDax group has made a capital contribution of 325 million euros and in return received a minority 41 percent stake in Ita. The majority will initially continue to be held by the Italian state.

The complete takeover of the Alitalia successor, which currently has 99 aircraft and 5,000 employees, has already been contractually agreed with the government in Rome. According to this, Lufthansa can take over 90 percent in two further steps and later the complete Italia Trasporto Aereo (Ita), if the business figures are right.

The step to a majority shareholding is not planned for this year, said CEO Carsten Spohr in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. "It is in our interest to keep the Italian government on board over the next few months. However, a 100 percent takeover is the clear goal." A fixed price of 829 million euros has been agreed for this, including a potential variable component.

EU competition requirements

After long negotiations, the European Union has approved the takeover under strict competition rules. ITA had to give up extensive take-off and landing rights in Rome and Milan to the low-cost airline Easyjet. ITA must also transport passengers of its competitors IAG (British Airways, Iberia) and Air France-KLM to their hubs at preferential rates. Even before its entry into Italy, Lufthansa was already the aviation group with the highest turnover in Europe.

The 27 new easyJet connections to numerous European cities are intended to limit the market power of the Lufthansa Group. In the Italian market, the largest provider is the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair.

New CEO is German

Even before Lufthansa's legal entry into the company, the Italian state, as the former owner, had already determined the airline's new five-member management team. Lufthansa's chief strategist Jorg Eberhart, who has already managed the northern Italian regional subsidiary Air Dolomiti for eight years, is designated as Chief Executive Officer. Sales expert Lorenza Maggio is also coming from Lufthansa.

Group CEO Carsten Spohr praises the development work at the successor to Alitalia. "We look forward to continuing this success story together with Ita Airways. With our participation, we will now strengthen the Italian and European aviation market in the future and the Lufthansa Group's position as number one in Europe."

Ita will be the fifth privatized state airline under the umbrella of the Lufthansa Group, following in the footsteps of Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian and the Belgian company Brussels Airlines. The company, which was launched in the middle of the 2020 coronavirus crisis, has so far always posted losses, but, as in the previous year, it has announced an operating profit for 2024. Last year, it had around 18 million passengers. The new subsidiary should quickly benefit from joint purchasing and standardized marketing in the Lufthansa Group and contribute a triple-digit million profit annually.

The airline, which will initially be managed as a minority interest, will immediately become the largest foreign company in the group, with the Leonardo da Vinci airport in Rome-Fiumicino becoming the sixth hub of the multi-brand provider. As Lufthansa CEO Spohr has announced, the plan is to offer the airline's regular customers a quick transition to the Lufthansa Miles & More program. The transition to the Star Alliance airline network is planned for 2026.

Earlier takeover plans

Deutsche Lufthansa AG had already flirted with the idea of taking over Italy's Alitalia under Spohr's predecessor Wolfgang Mayrhuber, but in the end left the Italian airline alone. As a result, the Arab Etihad and Air France lost a lot of money there. The Italian state had to save the airline, which is valued as a national symbol, from bankruptcy several times. During the transition to Alitalia, the company was eventually downsized and then fully nationalized again. The new company bought the rights to the legendary predecessor's name, but is not its successor in the legal sense./ceb/DP/stw