It results from the statements to the press that seven binding offers have been submitted, including - as confirmed by the interested Companies - those of Lufthansa and EasyJet, both of which seem to be interested in some assets of the Aviation lot but not in the acquisition of the entire company. In the running for the bid there would also be the American private equity fund Cerberus and - probably - the airport management companies Airport Handling and Alisud, which would be interested in the Handling lot.
The Extraordinary Commissioners will now have to evaluate the eligibility of the submitted offers and subsequently select the most convenient one, according to the objectives of the ministerial program to safeguard the complex of the business activities and the employment levels.
Meanwhile, the Italian Government, by Law Decree no. 148 dated October 16, 2017, has considered worthwhile to grant a technical extension of the deadline for the adjudication, postponing it from November 5, 2017 to April 30, 2018, on the basis of the following assumptions:
- the bid has taken place in a context characterized by a series of extraordinary events in the air transport sector, such as the collapse of Air Berlin, the bankruptcy of Monarch Airlines and the operational crisis of RyanAir, which are changing the strategic dynamics of the sector;
- it may be expected that a longer period of negotiation will be necessary in order to better finalize the proposals of the interested parties, in particular where offers do not correspond to the Call;
- the imminent deadline of November 5 would undermine the contractual power of the Extraordinary Administration that would have less than a month to conclude the negotiations.
In order to ensure the full operability of the Company also during the 4/6 month transition period (necessary for the authorization procedures, first of all the antitrust procedure) between the adjudication (April 30, 2018) and the actual possession and exercise of the business activities by the buyer (presumably, September - November 2018), the Law Decree approved by the Italian Government also intervened on the onerous state funding already granted to Alitalia, with an integration of additional 300 million of Euros, to be paid back by September 30, 2018.
The extension granted by the Government to handle the negotiations with the potential buyers following the offers evaluation, along with the new liquidity injection in favor of the Company, will now have to be enhanced by the Commissioners in order to reach the objective of an adjudication as much as possible in line with the ministerial standards.