MILAN, Aug 31 — Italy announced today it chose a bid by US investment fund Certares, in partnership with Delta Airlines and Air France-KLM, for exclusive talks to take over national carrier ITA Airways.

The decision came as a surprise, as Swiss-Italian shipping group MSC and its ally, German airline Lufthansa, had appeared frontrunners in the race to buy Alitalia’s successor.

The offer by Certares and its partners "was deemed to be the most in line with the objectives set” by the state, which owns 100 per cent of the company, the Italian economy ministry said in a statement, without disclosing the amount on the table.

"At the end of the exclusive negotiations, binding agreements will only be signed if their content is fully satisfactory for the public shareholder,” the ministry said.

According to the Italian daily Il Messaggero, the Certares fund, which specialises in tourism, has proposed to buy nearly 56 per cent of ITA for around €600 million (RM2.6 billion). The Italian state would retain a 44 per cent stake and have two of the five seats on the future ITA board.

MSC and Lufthansa had proposed at the end of August to pay €850 million for 80 per cent of ITA, a lower offer than a previous one of €1.3 billion to €1.4 billion made in January, due to the expected decline of the airline market after the summer. — AFP