The German airline Lufthansa's purchase of a large part of the Italian Ita Airways is now complete. Lufthansa made a bid for the company already in January two years ago, but after negotiations and reviews by the EU Commission, the deal is only now in place.
Ita is a loss-making company, the successor to the defunct Alitalia.
Lufthansa is buying 41 percent of Ita Airways for approximately 3.67 billion kronor, with an option to buy the rest of the company from the Italian state, starting as early as 2025.
Total, according to AFP, it's an investment of approximately 9.53 billion kronor.
"With this investment, we are now strengthening the Italian and European air travel market and Lufthansa's position as number one in Europe," writes Lufthansa's CEO Carsten Spohr in a statement.
