Etihad takes 49% of Alitalia

[markis10]

GULF airline Etihad Airways has signed a deal to take a 49 per cent stake in Italy's Alitalia airline and invest 560 million euros ($A811 million) to save the loss-making national carrier, restructure it and return it to profitability.
ETIHAD Airways CEO James Hogan and his Alitalia counterpart, Gabriele Del Torchio, signed the deal on Friday after months of negotiations over proposed job cuts and other issues that sparked fierce opposition from Italian unions.

http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/etihad-buys-49-of-alitalia/story-e6frfkur-1227018669629

 

[Foreigner]

For a very young airline (operations commenced Nov 2003), Etihad has a remarkable growth, with footprint in Australia (VA) as well as stakes in airlines in India and Europe.

 

[docjames]

Not sure what they know that others don't but Alitalia has been a money pit for decades.

Unless they've won massive breaks on all the union contracts and can re-shape the culture exponentially it's hard to see this being anything other than an ongoing money put for them.

Best of luck to them - will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[samh004]

It's amazing what you can do with an unlimited chequebook...

 

[ric_melb]

Great comment Sam. Seems 800 million is to buy control but effectively has already been blown. As docjames says they will need to sort the union contracts and culture to make it work. Courageous.

 

[moa999]

It's amazing what you can do with an unlimited chequebook...

Keep signing away.
This is Italy afterall