CERNOBBIO: Etihad Airways could be a good partner for Alitalia, UniCredit Chief Executive Federico Ghizzoni said yesterday, adding he hoped the Abu Dhabi-based airline would submit a proposal for the Italian carrier as it is expected to do shortly.
The Gulf carrier is due to kick-start formal talks for an investment in Alitalia by outlining its conditions in a letter of intent. “From the beginning I’ve said it could be a good partnership because there are no overlaps,” he said.
But sources said negotiations with the Italian airline were not expected to make much progress, contradicting a Financial Times report saying Etihad was expected to make an offer to buy almost half of Alitalia as soon as this weekend. UniCredit, which is one of Alitalia’s creditor banks, owns a 13 percent stake in the airline after it took part in a €500m share issue engineered by the Italian government.Reuters
