Under the circumstance and the global phenomenon of port congestion and the extremely unstable and volatile global shipping market, being able to provide multi-dimensional services for the international supply chain may become the main development direction of major shipping companies.
Over the past two years, the global shipping market has continued to experience turbulent waters as international ports are congested, containers are hard to find and dynamics force ‘empties’ to stay at destination amongst other challenges. Further shipping prices have continued to soar at the criticism of many – with some reports being ten times pre-Covid rated. This has placed shipping companies on the cusp of the storm in a position to increase their profits, while the major shipping companies with sufficient funds have started business expansion and supply chain diversification models.
MSC and ITA recently announced that the Swiss-based shipping company MSC and Lufthansa have partnered to buy a majority stake in the Italian airline ITA Airways and have asked for a 90-day exclusivity period to study the deal. If the acquisition is approved, it will be MSC’s first infiltration into the air freight business and another blockbuster acquisition by the company following two consecutive acquisitions in December 2021.
The chairman of ITA Airways said that the company was looking for an equity partner and had begun informal talks with a number of potential buyers in Europe and overseas. MSC said the interest in ITA Airways stemmed from “the possibility of positive synergies between the two companies in the cargo and passenger sectors.”
If the Italian government gives the green light, ITA Aviation’s board will study the details of the letter of intent at a future meeting and decide the way forward to enter into exclusive talks with the two partners, according to informed sources. The board would meet at the end of January to approve the ITA business plan.
MSC said it and Lufthansa would decide on their respective participation in the deal after studying the Italian airline’s financial data. Alfredo Altavilla, the ITA chairman said the company’s operating performance last year made a loss of EUR170-million. Operating income came in below expectations by EUR86-million.
Source: Fresh Plaza