Italy says has one less option to save Alitalia

(Reuters) - The Italian Treasury, which has a 49.9 percent stake in Alitalia, is struggling to decide its next move to salvage the money-losing carrier after its seven-month auction collapsed earlier this month.




Economy Minister Tomasso Padoa-Schioppa last week said Rome was debating whether to start a new bidding process from scratch or begin direct talks with potential suitors, but backed away from the latter option on Sunday.


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UPDATE 2-Alitalia asks for money as Rome ponders next move

(Reuters) - ROME, July 26 - Alitalia has asked for
more money as the Italian government, barred by the European
Union from pumping more cash into the ailing carrier, struggles
to figure out how to save it.




Rome is unsure whether to start a new bid process from
scratch or begin direct talks with potential suitors after its
seven-month auction collapsed last week when all bidders pulled
out, the economy minister said on Thursday.


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Italy says Alitalia faces liquidation if not sold

(Reuters) - Italy scrapped its seven-month auction of the loss-making airline on Wednesday after the last bidders pulled out, and now faces dwindling options and growing political embarrassment over the sale's failure.




"Other than a sale, there is only liquidation," Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper, "Making Alitalia attractive to an investor seems more difficult than we thought."


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Alitalia liquidation if carrier not sold: econ min

(Reuters) - "Other than a sale, there is only liquidation," Padoa-Schioppa told Corriere della Sera newspaper. He added that the centre-left government was looking at alternatives to sell its stake.




"This is a company that is losing money, in which the state cannot inject any more capital," he said. "Making Alitalia attractive to an investor seems more difficult than we thought."


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Alitalia auction on the brink as Air One pulls out

(Reuters) - The departure of domestic carrier Air One leaves only U.S. fund MatlinPatterson -- which has been tagged as lifeless by a minister -- and raises questions on whether a different procedure for the crucial sale is needed.




"The privatisation has basically failed given that the only credible suitor has withdrawn," said Mauro Rossi, head of one of Alitalia's major unions FILT-CGIL.


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UPDATE 1-Ryanair to sue European Commission over state aid

(Reuters) - Ryanair , Europe's biggest low cost airline, said it
submitted complaints involving Air France , Lufthansa
, Alitalia and Olympic Airways [OLY.UL] to
the Commission over a year ago.




"These complaints involved hundreds of millions of euro in
illegal state aids being granted by the French, German, Italian
and Greek governments to subsidise their flag carrier airlines,"
the company said in a statement.


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Italy's S&P/MIB Index Falls for First Time in Four Days, Paced by Alitalia

(Bloomberg) -- Italian stocks dropped for the first
day in four, led by shares of Unione di Banche Italiane Scpa and
Alitalia SpA.

The S&P/MIB dropped 185, or 0.4 percent, to 42914 at
10:44 a.m. in Milan, as 23 of its 40 members fell. Futures expiring
in September rose 111, or 0.3 percent, to 43,360.


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