Following the analysis of the three preliminary offers for the acquisition of a shareholding of not less than 39.9% of Alitalia and all the Alitalia convertible bonds owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF press release n. 67 dated 16.04.2007), the Ministry announces that the following bidders have been admitted to the next phase of the privatisation process of Alitalia:
- AP Holding S.p.a.;
- Consortium MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC - TPG Partners V L.P. - Mediobanca Banca di Credito Finanziario S.p.A.;
- Consortium Unicredit Banca Mobiliare S.p.A. - Aeroflot Russian Airlines Joint Stock Company.
Such decision has been made based on the analysis performed by the Ministry, supported by its financial advisor Merrill Lynch, its industrial advisor Bain & Co. and its legal advisor Chiomenti Studio Legale, of the preliminary offers received, and following the positive opinion expressed by the Privatisation Committee.
The selection of the parties above mentioned has been made, in accordance with the indications of the procedure letter for the Preliminary Offers, dated 23rd February 2007, based on:
- the respect of terms of the procedure
- the completeness of each preliminary offer with regard to the information required
- the ability of the preliminary business plans to respect the minimum targets of restructuring, relaunch and development of Alitalia and the minimum requirements of general interest set by the Ministry in the above mentioned procedure letter
In the next few days, the Ministry will send to the parties admitted to the next phase a procedure letter in which will be described the contents and how to present the binding offers which will include the binding business plan. The expected deadline to submit such offers is set by the end of June.
During this period, the parties admitted to the next phase will have access to additional information and documentation regarding Alitalia (data room). The data room will start on May 24th and will be open to all bidders at the same time.