ITA ‘confident of positive outcome from EU on Lufthansa’ – English

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(ANSA) – ROME, OCT 31 – ITA is confident that the European
Commission will greenlight the planned merger with German
carrier Lufthansa by the end of the year, ITA Director General
Andrea Benassi said on Tuesday.


“Lufthansa is a complex process, notification should be given by
the end of this month,” said Benassi of the requirement for the
Italian and German stakeholders to formally notify the European
Antitrust authority of the deal.


“We are very optimistic and confident that by the end of the
year the European Commission will give its judgement, and we
believe it will be a positive one,” he added.


“There has been a pre-notification process, which is still
ongoing and is very substantial and complex because the
Commission has asked a lot of cross-cutting questions,”
explained Benassi.


“The Commission is doing its job because this is one of the most
important operations, if not the most important operation, that
will take place in the aviation sector, so it is right for the
European Commission to carry out all the checks and analysis,”
he concluded.


In May Italy and Germany agreed to the acquisition by German
carrier Lufthansa in the two-year period 2023-2024 of a 41%
stake in ITA’s share capital against an investment of 325
million euros.


However, the deal still needs to be approved by EU competition
and antitrust authorities, a step that can only be taken once
they have received official notification of the deal from the
contracting parties.


In September Italian economy ministry sources said Italy was
waiting for the outcome of an EC probe, which was expected to be
fast, before proceeding with notification.


“The notification of the agreement for the sale of a minority
share of Ita to Lufthansa to the European Commissioner for
Competition is accepted, by practice, only at the end of an
investigation that the same commission is carrying out very
meticulously in the context of a pre-notification phase that has
already begun”, explained the sources.


Separately, EC sources said the commission was in close contact
with Italy and Germany over the deal. (ANSA).