Air France-KLM to seal Alitalia deal next month

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 31-Dec-2008 21:23 hrs



A plane takes off as planes of Italian flag carrier Alitalia are parked on the tarmac of Milan's Linate airport in November 2008. Air France-KLM will seal a deal to buy a stake in Italy's Alitalia next month, a source was quoted as saying, after the ailing airline was taken over by a group of Italian industry figures.


Air France-KLM will seal a deal to buy a stake in Italy's Alitalia next month, a source was quoted as saying on Wednesday, after the ailing airline was taken over by a group of Italian industry figures.

"Barring any last-minute surprises, the agreement is set to be sealed around January 10," just ahead of January 13 when the new Alitalia is to start operations, an informed source was quoted by Ansa news agency as saying.

Contacted by AFP, a spokesman for Alitalia declined to comment and a spokeswoman for Air France-KLM said the two sides were "continuing work."

Air France-KLM will pay around 250 million euros (350 million euros) for a 25 percent stake in the Italian airline, according to press reports.

Lufthansa is competing with Air France-KLM for the stake.

An Italian consortium of investors took over Alitalia earlier this month in a long-awaited deal worth 1.05 billion euros (1.46 billion dollars). Under the deal, 12,500 Alitalia workers will be retained while 3,250 jobs will be cut.

Air France-KLM had been prepared to assume Alitalia's debt, estimated at around 3.2 billion euros, as part of a takeover offer that it withdrew in early April after the breakdown of acrimonious negotiations with the unions.