Singapore Airlines on Thursday denied that it had presented a last-minute bid for a controlling stake in Alitalia.
''Singapore Airlines has not presented an offer for Alitalia and has no intention of doing so,'' a company spokesman told the Bloomberg news agency.
''Nor is Singapore Airlines in or have any intention to join any consortium which intends to acquire Alitalia,'' the spokesman added
Earlier in the day, Alitalia issued a statement saying it had received a letter from Singapore Airlines saying that it had a ''strong interest'' in Alitalia and had joined a consortium which included Evergreen LLC and THL Transportation.
The alleged offer came exactly a week after the deadline to present a non-binding bid or a letter of interest for the Treasury's 49.9% stake in Alitalia.
The Italian carrier said that it would point this out in forwarding the bid to the Treasury as well as the fact that Singapore Airlines CEO Chew Choon Seng told Alitalia representatives last September that his airline had no strategic interest in investing in Alitalia.
The Singapore Airlines' offer came the same day that the Alitalia board delayed until next Tuesday any decision on who will be chosen to acquire the Treasury's stake in the national carrier.
