The privatization of air carrier ITA Airways is reaching the final stages. Having opened and evaluated the envelopes containing the third perfected proposal from the interested consortia, the timeframe for closing the negotiations could be short. After the Executive will sign the preliminary deed of sale, direct negotiations between the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and the interested cordate will begin. Possible penalties will be provided for in case of backtracking.

The deal will be carried out by the next Government, the one that emerges after the September 25 ballot box vote, which will have to submit the privatization procedure to European antitrust scrutiny. However, the next Executive could also step back. This would lengthen the timeframe and could blow up the negotiations, as inferred from the latest statements by the Italo-German Msc-Lufthansa consortium and the labor unions. For this reason, there are plans to introduce an armor mechanism. 

At the moment, advisors Equita (for the financial side) and Gianni&Origoni (for the legal side) forwarded the technical evaluation of the two proposals to the government. According to rumors, Msc-Lufthansa's offer is preferable in terms of the business plan and economic-financial soundness, while that of the Certares fund is good in terms of governance. 

See also the article published by AVIONEWS.