Lufthansa nears deal to buy Italy’s ITA

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ROME/BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Lufthansa Group said it had submitted a package of remedies to the European Commission needed to secure EU antitrust approval to take a minority stake in Italy’s ITA Airways, bringing it a step closer to closing the deal.

Lufthansa in July won EU antitrust approval to buy 41% of state-owned ITA, the successor airline to bankrupt Alitalia, for 325 million euros ($354 million), in a deal designed to boost its presence in the lucrative southern European market.

The airline got the nod after long negotiations with Brussels that involved ceding routes and slots to rivals to address competition concerns.

However, Italy’s Treasury put the sale on hold last week after it argued with Lufthansa over an apparent price difference of between 10 million and 200 million euros.

In a sign that the price spat had been overcome, the Treasury said late on Monday that it had sent the European Commission the package of remedies needed to secure EU antitrust approval for the tie-up.

An Italian source told Reuters that Lufthansa had dropped its request for a price discount.

In a statement on Tuesday, a Lufthansa spokesperson confirmed the German carrier had submitted a package of remedies and said it was confident the Commission would approve the package in coming weeks.

“Lufthansa has found a solution to the points under discussion with the (Italian economy ministry) MEF in recent days,” said a spokesperson for the German carrier.