Alitalia savior has eye for a deal

By Gilles Castonguay

MILAN (Reuters) - The future of Alitalia (AZPIa.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) might seem hopeless, but Italian entrepreneur Roberto Colaninno knows a good deal when he sees one.

He describes his previous success in saving brand names like Olivetti and Piaggio as an act of patriotism, but Colaninno, 65, always manages to make money out of them, too.

In an interview with a leading newspaper on Friday, he reaffirmed this sense of duty to the country after accepting to lead the restructuring of Alitalia, the struggling airline.

"It's a public service," he said in La Repubblica. "Either I leave this country or I stay and try to do my part."

After turning around Vespa scooter maker Piaggio & C SpA (PIA.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Colaninno has joined other businessmen in responding to the government's cry for help in saving Alitalia from collapse.

As he has done with every other challenge he has taken, Colaninno has offered to put up his own money -- up to 150 million euros -- to help finance the carrier's rescue.

"It's a big risk," he said.

But Colaninno is on familiar ground. Every other company he has sought to restructure has suffered from the same plight: widening losses, mounting debt and growing competition.

There have also been the unions with which he has had to face -- experience that will be crucial for dealing with the restive Alitalia workers who are prone to strike.

The one company that made Colaninno famous but also caused him the most trouble was Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

In 1999, he led a $58 billion leveraged buy-out of the former telecommunications monopoly. At the time, it was the world's largest hostile takeover.

The vehicle he used for the move was Olivetti, the ailing multinational computer and typewriter maker that he had turned into a successful telecommunications group.

The move took Italy's business elite by surprise.

A private man firmly rooted in his hometown of Mantova, Colaninno did not belong to the "salotto buono" of Milan, an unofficial club of the country's leading financiers. He was part of a new, aggressive group of financiers that had won tacit support from leftist politicians.

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