Lufthansa bids for 20% stake in ITA Airways -source

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpFRANKFURT Reuters – Germanys Lufthansa wants to acquire a 20 stake in stateowned Italian airline ITA Airways, the successor to Alitalia, and its cooperation partner MSC is bidding for a 60 stake, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.p

pThe Italian state would initially keep the remaining 20, the source said. The LufthansaMSC duo made their offer to acquire a majority stake in ITA on Monday. MSC is also known as Mediterranean Shipping Group.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

pItalian media reports said the Alitalia successor was worth between around 1 billion and 2 billion euros. A Lufthansa spokesperson did not want to comment on the figures. p

pAccording to insiders, there is a rival bid from U.S. financial investor Certares together with Air FranceKLM and the American airline Delta.p

pA decision is expected in the coming weeks about which of the two bidder groups exclusive negotiations will be conducted with. A sale is to be completed by the end of June.p

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pp Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach Writing by Paul Carrel Editing by Miranda Murrayp

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