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Alitalia execs come to Atlanta for “merger talks”

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Alitalia execs come to Atlanta for “merger talks”

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Old Jan 6, 2019, 7:42 am
  #1  
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Alitalia execs come to Atlanta for “merger talks”

Well, this is an unexpected turn of events. I doubt it’s a full merger, but maybe something like a southern version of the VS arrangement? Hard to see how it works out though if there’s no employment changes at an airline that’s hemmirrhaging cash.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...al-stampa-says
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Old Jan 6, 2019, 7:53 am
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Hmm, taking on a potentially major liability with a recession just around the corner. Seems like a good idea.
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Old Jan 6, 2019, 7:58 am
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The Bloomberg article suggests this could be a complicated, multi-party transaction with some separation of long-haul vs. short-haul routes. But I don't see how Alitalia without job cuts is anything but a perpetual basket-case.
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Old Jan 6, 2019, 10:44 am
  #4  
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This sounds worse than buying an oil refinery.
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Old Jan 6, 2019, 2:27 pm
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. . . particularly considering the unstable Italian government. It's a nightmare dealing with Italian bureaucracy even in the best circumstances, but now . . . .
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Old Jan 6, 2019, 2:39 pm
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Hauenstein used to be an executive for AZ. This reminds me of Richard Anderson's career with both PMNW and PMDL before the merger. First hire one of their top executives, then do a merger.

Maybe one advantage of DL buying AZ is that it would prevent LH from buying AZ.

However, someone is seriously crazy if they think that there won't be any loses of AZ jobs if DL buys them. In fact, I would think that terminating a lot of employees without having to pay them lots of money would need to be part of any deal.
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Old Jan 6, 2019, 3:19 pm
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DL could also buy the Brooklyn Bridge, and convert it to a private NYC-JFK conduit... @:-)
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Old Jan 6, 2019, 5:10 pm
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Originally Posted by OhDoctor
DL could also buy the Brooklyn Bridge, and convert it to a private NYC-JFK conduit... @:-)
Obviously a merger is not going to happen.

But DL kicking in some cash in order to somehow have a percentage of the TATL flight stream is not unreasonable.

EDIT: As a shareholder in DL, I hope not,
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Old Jan 6, 2019, 5:28 pm
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Originally Posted by jrkmsp
Hard to see how it works out though if there’s no employment changes at an airline that’s hemmirrhaging cash.
Doesn't that describe the AF JV?
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Old Jan 6, 2019, 6:32 pm
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Oh great, more joint ventures. The legal term for price fixing.
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Old Jan 6, 2019, 7:24 pm
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Maybe one advantage of DL buying AZ is that it would prevent LH from buying AZ.
Bingo!
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Old Jan 6, 2019, 11:05 pm
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Originally Posted by bretthexum
Oh great, more joint ventures. The legal term for price fixing.
Delta and Alitalia already have a JV so.....
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Old Jan 7, 2019, 12:20 am
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DL can't really buy AZ. They'd buy a partial stake (49% at most) - not a complete buyout, which i'm not sure is allowed by the EU.

Although one could argue that DL virtually has majority ownership of VS...
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Old Jan 7, 2019, 2:49 am
  #14  
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Maybe one advantage of DL buying AZ is that it would prevent LH from buying AZ.
For whom would that be an advantage?

Lufthansa?
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Old Jan 7, 2019, 2:51 am
  #15  
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Originally Posted by exwannabe
Obviously a merger is not going to happen.

But DL kicking in some cash in order to somehow have a percentage of the TATL flight stream is not unreasonable.

EDIT: As a shareholder in DL, I hope not,
AZ is a full participant (though a late comer) in the DL/AF/KL immunised TATL JV, which the DL/VS JV is now being attempted to be rolled into as well.

As such, all revenues on the "TATL flight stream" are already shared amongst all participants.

(AZ actually wants to go alone, though. Their larger partners are preventing them from expanding on TATL)
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