Italian Government Approves Alitalia, Air France-KLM Deal
March 20, 2008
The Italian government has given its nod for the acquisition of national airlines Alitalia by Air France-KLM. The Italian government holds 49.9% stake in the national carrier.
Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, economy minister of Italy, has said that prime minister Romano Prodi will send Alitalia a letter, which will contain “the agreement to accept the public offer of exchange of shares and the acquisition by Air France-KLM of all the shares held by the state.”
The E140 million deal proposes to swap one Air France-KLM share for 160 Alitalia shares.
The brand and the logo of Alitalia will remain unchanged after the acquisition but about 1,600 employees out of 11,000 are likely to lose their jobs.