Lufthansa joins easyJet in expressing revised interest in Alitalia

EasyJet has submitted a revised expression of interest for a restructured Alitalia

Lufthansa has joined easyJet in expressing interest in Italian carrier Alitalia. Andreas Solaro / AFP

Lufthansa has joined easyJet in expressing interest in struggling Italian carrier Alitalia, the airlines said on Tuesday.

EasyJet said it has submitted a revised expression of interest for a restructured Alitalia as part of a consortium, declining to provide further details.

Lufthansa then said it has submitted a document setting out its ideas for a "new" Alitalia. "We can imagine further talks being held on this basis," a spokesman said.

Alitalia said it had received three bids.

Germany-based Lufthansa had previously said it would only be interested in a restructured Alitalia.

Alitalia entered insolvency proceedings last year and the Italian government has since been seeking new investors. The sale process has been delayed as a result of last month's elections.

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Bloomberg News, citing a source, reported that easyJet is teaming up with private equity firm Cerberus and Air France-KLM for its bid for Alitalia, but Air France-KLM said it had no interest in bidding.

"Air France-KLM denies any interest to do a bid on Alitalia," a spokeswoman for the Franco-Dutch group said by email when asked about the report. (Reporting by Victoria Bryan, Tim Hepher, Agnieszka Flak, editing by Larry King and Sandra Maler)