A Brazilian restructuring company that unsuccessfully tried to buy the Varig airline two years ago has offered ¤1 billion (US$1.5 billion) for Italy's troubled Alitalia carrier, the company's top executive said Wednesday, according to ap. Multi-Long Corp. has proposed the purchase to Italy's government and to European regulators, said its chief executive Michael Breslow. Italian officials had no immediate comment and Alitalia officials couldn't be reached for comment. Breslow acknowledged his company has no experience running an airline but said Alitalia's problem is that it needs financial reorganization. «They asked if we had any experience in aviation. We said no,» Breslow said. «But one plus one is two, and we know numbers.» He said Multi-Long does not have financing set for the purchase, but believes it could get it from European and Brazilian banks. Premier-elect Silvio Berlusconi clashed with the European Union on Tuesday by threatening to nationalize Alitalia, if the EU blocks a government loan aimed at preventing the airline from going bankrupt. Berlusconi says he is trying to assemble private investors to take over the Italian treasury's 49.9 percent stake in Alitalia. But he also said the state-owned railway could buy the airline. The European Union is evaluating whether ¤300 million (US$469 million) in emergency funding from the Italian government for Alitalia violates EU rules. Multi-Long offered US$800 million (¤514.8 million) for Varig in a 2006 bid that was rejected by Brazilian officials.
