Following the collapse of the auction for Alitalia…
July 24, 2007
Italy is happy to sell Alitalia to anyone willing to turn the loss-making national airline around — no matter where the new owners come from, an Italian minister said.Embarrassed by the collapse of Alitalia’s auction last week when the last bidders pulled out, Rome is now scrambling for new options to sell the airline and prevent it from being shut down.
“If they can make it work, we welcome even Eskimos or the Chinese,” said European Affairs Minister Emma Bonino said at a news conference. “That would be satisfying from the point of view of Italian consumers.”
Several bidders in the seven month auction had pulled out citing restrictive terms imposed by Rome on the sale — which include maintaining the “Italianness” of the airline. The final contenders included Russia’s Aeroflot and a US private equity group.
Another Italian minister last week compared Alitalia to a diseased limb and suggested selling it off for one euro to anyone willing to take it off Rome’s hands or letting it go bankrupt.
Anyone fancy it…lol.?:D:diablo:
Is it really wise to sell it off for just one euro?
How many a/c does Alitalia fly?
What routes/destinations do they serve?
By: cloud_9 - 29th July 2007 at 11:46
Whilst researching about the Flybe/BACON takeover, I made an interesting discovery regarding the reason why airlines that are in financial trouble are sold for such small sums of money.
Media reports state that it is believed the airline [BA Connect] was sold for the sum of £1. Although not verified, businesses that are losing money are usually sold for a nominal sum in order to indicate a legal transaction has taken place.
The other interesting thing is…
…as well as writing off some £106 million as “lost” in the sale of BA Connect, BA had to pay Flybe a sum of money to take on the company due to Flybe actually taking on a company that will cost them money rather than make profits for the foreseeable future.
So to get back onto the topic of Alitalia, I was wondering if someone did want to take it on, would the Italian government give the new shareholder/owner money to help the initial take-over period because in the same case as Flybe’s takeover of BACON, it will cost them money rather than make profits for the foreseeable future.
Just a thought…?
By: Manston Airport - 29th July 2007 at 00:40
buy them for a euro then sell them on to the highist bidder 😀
Sell them on Ebay:D Yeah Jon I think Ryanair should buy them they cant get Aer Lingus so go for Alitalia 🙂
James
By: caz66 - 28th July 2007 at 21:28
buy them for a euro then sell them on to the highist bidder 😀
By: cloud_9 - 28th July 2007 at 15:28
Jon Maybe you should buy them:D
James
I’d love to buy them; think I have a spare 66p (1 Euro equivelant!) lying round in my piggy-bank…lol.:D
In all seriousness though, I think Alitalia will (eventually) die an ugly death to be honest because no sane minded person would want to take on such a task with so much baggage!
Maybe FR should consider buying them out, they are always looking for an opportunity to expand their services and they have a big market presence in Italy, seeing as they have bases at Milan, Rome and Pisa.
By: Manston Airport - 28th July 2007 at 15:08
Does this not confirm the need for some sort of Chapter 11 protection status for European airlines, like they have in the US?
I think they should have the Chapter 11 over here, If no one buys Alitalia I think Itay will be looking for a new national airline. Jon Maybe you should buy them:D
James
By: cloud_9 - 28th July 2007 at 12:21
Airfleets report they have 149 aircraft, not bad for a 1p.:)
So could they not drop their least profitable/loss-making routes, sell some of their a/c and focus on their most profitable routes…the term ‘Keep It Simple Stupid’ comes to mind.
Dont forget that whoever is crazy enough to pay 1p for Alitalia also gte handed the debt that Alitalia has-millions and millions!
How much debt is Alitalia in? I heard that by the end of this year it could total as much as £300million in the red…:eek:
Is Alitalia in a similar or worse situation than Olympic?
Does this not confirm the need for some sort of Chapter 11 protection status for European airlines, like they have in the US?
By: SHAMROCK321 - 28th July 2007 at 12:03
Dont forget that whoever is crazy enough to pay 1p for Alitalia also gte handed the debt that Alitalia has-millions and millions!
By: Newforest - 28th July 2007 at 11:23
Addt. info
Following the collapse of the auction for Alitalia…
Anyone fancy it…lol.?:D:diablo:
Is it really wise to sell it off for just one euro?
How many a/c does Alitalia fly?
What routes/destinations do they serve?
Airfleets report they have 149 aircraft, not bad for a 1p.:)
http://www.airfleets.net/flottecie/Alitalia.htm
This link will give you the route maps which look quite comprehensive.
http://www.airlineroutemaps.com/Europe_2/Alitalia_europe_milan.shtml
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July 28, 2007 at 11:15 am