Beggars cannot be choosers: the threat of insolvency can push even the most politically motivated managers to make tough decisions. When the board of Alitalia, Italy's state-controlled national airline, met on March 15th, it had no choice but to accept a takeover offer worth E∪D139m ($217111) made the day before by Air France-KLM, a large Franco-Dutch airline group which began exclusive negotiations with Alitalia in December. The conditions that Air France-KLM has set are harsher than expected, but Alitalia's tattered finances mean any bid is better than none.rnIf the deal goes ahead, it will be the final stage of a privatisation that began at the end of 2006 when Italy's economics and finance ministry, which has a 49.9% stake in the airline, invited expressions of interest for its shares. Alitalia's plight has worsened significantly since then.
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