Atlantia: and FS Agree to Get Involved in Alitalia Rescue

This green light will allow Alitalia to avoid the threat of liquidation against the company at the end of a deadline of October 15 by the Italian Ministry of Industry for the conclusion of an agreement.
However, several obstacles must be overcome to launch this third attempt at recovery in the history of Alitalia.
The plan designed by the Italian state provides for the creation of a new company that will retain the "good" assets of Alitalia and will receive in cash about 1 billion euros from its lenders.
In two separate releases released on Tuesday, Atlantia, controlled by the Benetton family, and FS have however made the commitment of a major airline to the recovery of Alitalia as a condition of their engagement.
Atlantia and FS have been in talks since July with Delta Air Lines but neither the American company nor Lufthansa, which recently said it might be interested, are mentioned in the press releases.
If they say they are ready to take a minority stake in Alitalia, Atlantia and FS also warn that progress will be needed to reach agreement on a business plan and a new governance structure.
Alitalia has been under special administration since May 2017 after the failure of two previous bailouts in 2009 and 2014.

(Francesca Landini, Jean-Stephane Brosse for French service)