MILAN, Sept 17 (Reuters) – Alitalia will kick off the sale of its brand on Sept. 18 with a base price of 290 million euros ($340 million) plus taxes, the airline said on Friday as it prepares to give way to a new, state-owned carrier.
Last week the Italian government received the go ahead from Brussels to inject 1.35 billion euros into a new carrier named Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA), which is due to start flying in place of Alitalia in mid-October.
As agreed with the European Commission, Alitalia will sell its brand in an open tender and ITA can present an offer to buy it together with other potential buyers by Sept. 30. ($1 = 0.8528 euros) (Reporting by Francesca Landini; Editing by Crispian Balmer)
