Alitalia: Les Echos, Etihad aims to be minority shareholder
(ANSAmed) - Paris - Abu Dhabi's airline Ethiad 'is allegedly ready to buy stakes of some minority shareholders' in Alitalia who 'wish to disengage themselves when the current pact expires on January 12' French daily Les Echos reported Tuesday quoting confidential sources. The operation, according to the newspaper, would be welcome by Air France-Klm 'which owns 25% of the Italian company but does not have the means to buy off the rest'. The French-Dutch group, whose good relations with Ethiad have led to a cooperation accord at the end of 2012, 'would thus avoid the risk of seeing part of Alitalia's capital go into hostile hands while awaiting to be well off enough to make an acquisition offer in cash or a shares exchange in 2014 or 2015'. For the moment, Les Echos reported, none of the airlines mentioned released a comment on the issue. (ANSAmed)
