The German airline Lufthansa has denied making any bid, direct or indirect, for a majority stake in Italian carrier Alitalia.
"There has been no offer direct or indirect for Alitalia," Lufthansa CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber said in a press conference Thursday for the presentation of the airline 2006 balance sheet.
The Italian government decided to privatise Alitalia at the end of last year and an initial tender reduced the list of potential bidders to five, from an initial 11.
Among the five is the AP group of Carlo Toto who is also the chairman of Italy's second biggest airline Air One, which is already a partner with Lufthansa.
Italy's Unicredit bank is also on the short list but it has made no secret that it has acted on behalf of an undisclosed bidder.
Some observers believe that Unicredit may be acting on behalf of Lufthansa or perhaps Air France-KLM, which already owns a 2% stake in Alitalia and is its partner in the Sky Team alliance.
Both the German and French-Dutch airlines have denied this.
Other observers believe Air France and Lufthansa are waiting to see who blinks first in making a move on Alitalia.
The other potential bidders on the short list are the Management & Capitali buyout fund set up by Italian financier Carlo De Benedetti, the European branch of the Texas pacific Group (TPG) Unicredit and Matlin Patterson Global Advisors, a New York-based private equity firm.
The deadline for a second, non-binding bid is April 16 and the Italian Treasury, which owns 49.9% of Alitalia, has raised the minimum stake it intends to sell from 30.1% to 39.9%.
Conditions for the second bid include holding on to all acquired capital and assets for three years; maintaining the Alitalia logo and brand for eight years; respecting the proposed business plan for three years during which employment levels must stay unchanged, unless in agreement with unions; and ensuring "adequate" service on domestic, continental and international routes for at least five years.
All five potential bidders will be allowed to get a look at Alitalia's books before submitting their bids.
Based on these second bids, the Treasury will invite former offers for Alitalia and hopes to conclude the privatization of the national carrier during summer.
