No market solution for Alitalia says Conte

(ANSA) - Rome, November 26 - Premier Giuseppe Conte on Tuesday confirmed that plans for a consortium led by railway group Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) to take over troubled airline Alitalia have run aground. "We do not have a market solution within reach" Conte said when asked about the future of troubled Italian airline Alitalia.
    FS said that it was unable to form a consortium to take over the former flag carrier, which has been in extraordinary administration since 2017, when a deadline for binding offers expired last week.
    It said motorway group Atlantia had pulled out and Delta Airlines was only prepared to grant a 'micro-investment' of 100 million euros.
    "No binding offer was made by the consortium at the end of the deadline," said Conte.
    "FS and Delta remain willing (to take part in a future consortium). "We are obviously evaluating alternatives".
    The premier was echoing comments made earlier on Tuesday by Industry Minister Stefano Patuanelli.
    "At the moment there is no market solution," Patuanelli told the Senate's industry committee. "We are carefully assessing various options. There is no postponement for the consortium that was being formed because that road no longer exists.
    "There have been attempts to privatize the company for 10 years, but it is of a size that the market has trouble accepting".