It is being reported widely in the media that Cerberus Capital Management is bidding for full control for Alitalia, which would allow the airline to remain independent, so long as it was comprehensively restructured, reports the Financial Times. To date, easyJet and Lufthansa are known to have placed bids for only parts of the troubled Italian airline.
Cerberus told the UK newspaper that it would be willing to invest between €100m and €400m to gain control of Alitalia, which would include the retention of stake in the airline. However, the bid would be outside of the current bidding process, which may not be acceptable for Italian officials.