Air France-KLM on Monday defied industry expectation by not making a preliminary bid to acquire Italy's struggling carrier, Alitalia. Instead, nine other firms, including Management and Capitali, a private equity firm, and the Italian bank Unicredit, put forth initial offers, the global news agency Agence France-Presse reported. "Air France-KLM intends to continue to develop the partnership with Alitalia within the SkyTeam alliance and an industrial and commercial cooperation begun between the two companies at the end of 2001," Alitalia said in a statement. Despite the lack of an initial offer, experts still advised industry watchers to not count out Air France just yet, as the carrier could still make a move pending a bid from a rival airline.
