Alitalia's agreement to a takeover offer from Air France-KLM over the weekend has sent the Italian airline flying into political and union turbulence.
 A hot issue ahead of Italy's general election on April
13-14, the deal still needs the blessing of Italy's next government and Alitalia's strike-prone unions, and there are already signs of a fight ahead. "It's an unconditional surrender," CGIL union leader Fabrizio Solari told Italian daily La Repubblica. Unions oppose Air France-KLM's plans to cut flights and staff. Anpac, a pilots' union, said it was ready to fight the sale, la Repubblica reported on Monday.
Some opposition politicians, led by the separatist party Northern League,
equated the agreement with Air France-KLM to the Battle of Caporetto, Italy's
worst military defeat during World War One and a lingering national symbol of
collapse. "It's a real Caporetto of the government and of the
administrators it named," Lombardy region President Roberto Formigoni
said, according to La Repubblica. Formigoni is one of many northern
Italian politicians crying foul over Air France-KLM's plans to scale back
Alitalia's operations at Malpensa, Milan's hub.
Air France-KLM offered one share for every 160 shares of Alitalia, valuing
its stock at 0.10 euro a share, or EUR138 million euros (USD$183.8 million) in
all, an 81 percent discount to the record low price at Friday's close.
The nearly bankrupt airline said late on Sunday it would also receive a credit
line of EUR300 million (USD$473 million) from the Italian government.
The carrier also said it expects the stock swap to begin in June and that Air
France-KLM intends to de-list Alitalia's stock if it acquires more than 90
percent of it. Air France-KLM's offer also includes EUR608 million
(USD$958 million) to buy back Alitalia's convertible bonds and a EUR1 billion
(USD$1.576 billion) capital increase.
Air France-KLM, the world's biggest airline by revenues, had initially
offered 0.35 euro per share. Its binding offer is still much higher than that
of Air One, a small Italian carrier that had bid one cent a share and was
snubbed by Rome. It set a deadline of March 31 for several conditions on
its offer, including agreement with airports operator SEA over a EUR1.25
billion (USD$1.7 billion) claim for damages for cutting slots at Malpensa.
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