AZ Auction On The Brink As Air One Pulls Out
 

July 18, 2007

Air One has pulled out of the bidding for Alitalia citing impossible conditions, leaving Rome's plans to auction the loss-making carrier in tatters ahead of Monday's deadline for final offers.

Source: http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1184749437.html

TPG Not Interested
 

July 18, 2007

A consortium of US private equity firms TPG and MatlinPatterson and Italian bank Mediobanca on Wednesday said they were no longer participating in Alitalia's auction.

Source: http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1184749582.html

MatlinPatterson still wants AZ-source
 

NEW YORK, July 18 (Reuters) - U.S. private equity fund MatlinPatterson is still interested in bidding for Italian airline Alitalia (AZPIa.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) but would likely not make an offer unless sale terms were altered, a source familiar with the firm's thinking said on Wednesday.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNe...0070718?rpc=44

I'm no airline executive, but I can't see what part of Alitalia could have justified a sale under the old terms. A nearly bankrupt airline with a workforce that is used to working for the state and who has no problem with striking, as well as Italy's demands that service levels and jobs be guaranteed can't possibly be attractive to a potential buyer.

It seems to me (my opinion, of course, is totally uninformed) that the best course of action for a potential buyer would be to wait until the airline declares bankruptcy and buy it at reduced value. This would give the required political ammunition to be able to force changes upon the company...

Auction Near Collapse, What's Next?
 

July 18 - Italy's auction of struggling flag carrier Alitalia (AZPIa.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) is near collapse. Rome now must find another way out for the airline, which is losing more than 1 million euros ($1.4 million) a day.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNe...0070718?rpc=44

Spluttering bid process
 

July 17 (Reuters) - Italy's auction of Alitalia (AZPIa.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) was close to failure on Tuesday after domestic carrier Air One pulled out, leaving the airline with just one potential suitor -- a buyout fund showing little life according to one minister.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNe...0070717?rpc=44

Country scrambles to keep auction alive
 

ROME, July 18 (Reuters) - Italy moved to avert the collapse of the sale of loss-making airline Alitalia on Wednesday by suggesting face-to-face talks with bidders who pulled out of an auction to leave a rank outsider as the only contender.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNe...0070718?rpc=44

To Be Liquidated If Not Sold
 

July 19, 2007

Liquidation is the only option for Italian flag carrier Alitalia if the loss-making airline is not sold, Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa said in an interview published on Thursday.

Source: http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1184840548.html

Board adjourns talks on fate to next week
 

ROME (Reuters) - Loss-making Italian carrier Alitalia (AZPIa.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) on Friday adjourned to next week a board meeting discussing its future and dwindling options following the collapse of its seven-month auction.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/marke...0070720?rpc=44

Options Running Out To Save Alitalia
 

Embarrassed by the collapse of Alitalia's auction last week when the last bidders pulled out, Rome is now scrambling for new options to sell the airline and prevent it from being shut down.

Source: http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1185233320.html

Alitalia Shares Up on Reports of Buyers
 

MILAN, Italy (AP) -- Alitalia shares rose nearly 5 percent Tuesday after newspaper reports that KLM-Air France and the U.S. buyout firm Texas Pacific Group were interested in buying the failing airline a week after the government efforts to sell it crumbled.

Source: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070724/italy_alitalia.html?.v=3

Italy economy minister says confident on AZ
 

LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) - Italian Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa said on Wednesday he was confident a solution would be found for airline Alitalia (AZPIa.MI: Quote, Profile, Research), whose auction collapsed last week after all bidders pulled out.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/marke...0070725?rpc=44

AZ asks for money as Rome ponders next move
 

ROME, July 26 (Reuters) - Alitalia (AZPIa.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) has asked for more money as the Italian government, barred by the European Union from pumping more cash into the ailing carrier, struggles to figure out how to save it.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/marke...0070726?rpc=44

Carrier expects to name bidders by Dec. 6
 

ROME, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Nonbinding offers for Alitalia (AZPIa.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) are likely to be presented by Dec. 6, the Italian airline said on Wednesday, putting back a previous deadline set for the end of this week.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/marke...0071128?rpc=44

Delays Throw Doubt On Foreign Saviors
 

December 4, 2007

A series of delays in self-imposed deadlines by Alitalia to identify a partner signal a struggle to put a palatable offer forward for the strike-prone flagship carrier -- and the odds of a foreign partner are lengthening.

Source: http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1196797865.html