The target businesses are part of AZ Servizi, Alitalia’s internal services operation which it span out as a separate organization two years ago. Alitalia is a 49% shareholder in AZ Servizi, with the remainder owned by state holdings group Fintecna which is also led by Alitalia president Maurizio Prato.
Prato wants to improve the efficiency of AZ Servizi, whose services are, he claims, priced at more than twice the market rate in some areas. He wants to bring some of the services provided by AZ Servizi back in-house while selling others.
EDS is reportedly bidding to acquire the IT services component which made 2006 revenue of 80m euros ($110m), and Accenture is targeting the 500-employee shared services piece, which along with AZ Servizi’s call center operations, made 2004 sales of 40m euros ($55m).
EDS and Accenture rank as two of the biggest IT services suppliers to the airline industry. EDS set up an airline center of excellence on the back of a deal with Swiss International Air Lines, and it also has contracts with SNBrussels, Iberia and Lufthansa.
