The government has approved the €1 billion bid for Alitalia from the Italian Air Company, an investment consortium. Claudio Scajola, the Economic Development Minister, authorized Augusto Fantozzi, the special administrator over Alitalia, to move forward with selling the airline’s assets for no less than €1.052 billion.

The approval came last Wednesday during the final takeover stage, following the authorities of the European Union giving regulatory approval the week before and clearing the path for signing the final agreement with the Italian Air Company.

The restructured carrier is planned for relaunch on December 1^st, which is two years after the Italian government began to unload its hold in the troubled airline. Investors have yet to reveal the deal’s structure, but the airline says that the Italian Air Company will take on over €625 million in debt, and the rest is to be paid in cash.

The Italian Air Company is planning to keep around 12,500 of Alitalia’s workers, but will be cutting about 3,250 jobs. They have also made an offer to takeover the profitable assets of Alitalia, including some of the carrier’s slots and aircrafts. Their plan is to reduce routes, streamline the new relaunched airline, and merge with Air One, the second largest Italian airline.

Alitalia, which is 49.9% owned by the state is still seeking a foreign partner to hold a minority stake for the relaunched company. Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, has expressed favoritism for an alliance between the carrier and Lufthansa, rather than Air France KLM. However, the media has reported that Alitalia is delaying a decision until the year ends.

Go to www.alitalia.com to learn more about the airline.