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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Air France scraps Alitalia bid | Air France scraps Alitalia bid |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Alitalia's future is under fresh threat after Air France KLM said it would walk away from its proposed takeover bid. | |
| Air France suspended talks with the troubled Italian carrier last month after it failed to get the necessary backing from unions for its proposals. | Air France suspended talks with the troubled Italian carrier last month after it failed to get the necessary backing from unions for its proposals. |
| It has now dropped out altogether, saying the contractual basis for its initial offer was "no longer valid". | It has now dropped out altogether, saying the contractual basis for its initial offer was "no longer valid". |
| Italy's outgoing cabinet is expected on Tuesday to discuss funding options to keep Alitalia going for the time being. | Italy's outgoing cabinet is expected on Tuesday to discuss funding options to keep Alitalia going for the time being. |
| Financial crisis | Financial crisis |
| Media reports have suggested that ministers could extend a short-term 150m euros loan to Alitalia while they examine the case for further funding to tide the airline over for a year. | Media reports have suggested that ministers could extend a short-term 150m euros loan to Alitalia while they examine the case for further funding to tide the airline over for a year. |
| The airline is currently losing 1m euros a day and many experts believed Air France represented the only hope of preventing its ultimate financial collapse. | The airline is currently losing 1m euros a day and many experts believed Air France represented the only hope of preventing its ultimate financial collapse. |
| Alitalia said earlier this month that it had 170m euros in cash at its disposal, enabling it to continue trading only in the "very short term". | Alitalia said earlier this month that it had 170m euros in cash at its disposal, enabling it to continue trading only in the "very short term". |
| Silvio Berlusconi's incoming government is seen as more willing to extend further financial support to aid the ailing airline than the outgoing administration led by Romano Prodi. | Silvio Berlusconi's incoming government is seen as more willing to extend further financial support to aid the ailing airline than the outgoing administration led by Romano Prodi. |
| Mr Berlusconi has always backed keeping the airline in Italian hands and has asked banks and aviation groups to work urgently together on a plan to rescue the firm. | Mr Berlusconi has always backed keeping the airline in Italian hands and has asked banks and aviation groups to work urgently together on a plan to rescue the firm. |
| Air France's proposed 139m euros ($220m) takeover was always deeply unpopular with unions which feared that it would result in massive layoffs. | Air France's proposed 139m euros ($220m) takeover was always deeply unpopular with unions which feared that it would result in massive layoffs. |
| Air France envisaged closing a host of unprofitable routes as well as transferring the airline's main business hub from Rome to Milan. | Air France envisaged closing a host of unprofitable routes as well as transferring the airline's main business hub from Rome to Milan. |
| Industrial unrest, spiralling costs and competition from budget airlines have combined to force Alitalia to the brink in recent years. | Industrial unrest, spiralling costs and competition from budget airlines have combined to force Alitalia to the brink in recent years. |