Germany's Lufthansa Group has completed its long-awaited acquisition of Italian airline ITA Airlines, with the acquisition of two-fifths of the company's shares confirmed on January 17th.
ITA joins Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines as the fifth network airline of the Lufthansa Group.
Lufthansa Group announced that the capital increase of 325 million euros ($334 million) has been approved by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, which will maintain a 59% stake in ITA. The remaining 41% stake in ITA was transferred to Lufthansa Group.
Approval of the partnership follows months of investigation into the potential market impact.
The parties had agreed to the deal in May 2023, but the European Commission did not give its approval until late November, after easyJet, IAG and Air France-KLM signed the deal. .accepted as taking remedial measures Candidates to alleviate anticompetitive concerns related to specific routes or airport slots.
“We are proud to finally welcome ITA Airlines to the Lufthansa Group,” said Carsten Spohr, CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa. “I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this, especially in Rome, Brussels, Berlin and Frankfurt.
“The team at ITA Airlines has written an impressive success story in recent years, and with great energy, passion and expertise they have built an airline that is already the pride of the entire country.”
Apart from its home base of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium, Lufthansa ranks Italy as its second most important international market after the United States.
Rome Fiumicino Airport will become Lufthansa Group's “sixth and southernmost” hub, with Milan Linate Airport in northern Italy also becoming another important hub.
In other aspects of airline consolidation, the European Commission late last year approved Korean Air's acquisition of Asiana Airlines, to be absorbed by the end of 2026.
In Latin America, Abra Group and Brazilian airline Azul recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore integration to create Brazil's largest airline through a partnership with Gol.
