Alitalia administrator does not rule out possibility of receiving offer for entire airline (translated)
01 OCT 2017
Luigi Gubitosi, one of the administrators for Italian airline Alitalia, has not ruled out the possibility of receiving a bid for all of Alitalia's assets, Italian language daily Il Corriere della Sera reported.
In a long interview with the paper, Gubitosi said he had no reason to rule out such a possibility. However, he added that the trend in the airline sector was to separate baggage handling services from flight operations.
Gubitosi also expressed no preference for either an industrial or private equity bidder, saying that the most important factor in determining the winning bidder would be which suitor tabled the most credible offer.
The item added that the deadline for binding offers is 16 October.
Gubitosi added that Alitalia would in future focus on long-range flights and would be looking to increase flights to the US and enter the African market.
Gubitosi also told the paper that Alitalia had seen an increase in turnover of 1.5% in 1Q17, the first rise in three years. Gubitosi also noted that EBITDA had improved by EUR 64m to a positive EUR 46m net of extraordinary item.