Recently, the world’s largest container liner company Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) said that it would withdraw from the acquisition of Italian ITA Airways (ITA Airways).

MSC has previously said the deal would help it expand into air cargo, an industry that has boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company announced in September that MSC was leasing four Boeing wide-body freighters as part of its foray into air cargo.

According to Reuters, a Lufthansa spokesman recently said that despite reports that MSC had pulled out, Lufthansa remained interested in buying ITA.

On the other hand, in August this year, Italian airline ITA selected a group led by US private equity fund Certares and backed by Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines to conduct exclusive negotiations on buying a majority stake in ITA airlines. However, the exclusivity period for its takeover expired in October without a deal, reopening the door to bids from Lufthansa and MSC.

In fact, MSC has been looking for new horizons to deploy the vast amounts of cash it has earned on the container shipping boom.

It is also understood that after MSC CEO Soren Toft took the helm, every step of MSC is moving towards a more targeted and planned strategic direction.

In August 2022, MSC joined a consortium that launched a £3.7 billion ($4.5 billion) takeover bid for London-listed private hospital group Mediclinic (the deal was funded by the investment vehicle of South Africa’s richest man, John Rupert). led by Remgro).

MSC Group President Diego Ponte said at the time that MSC was “well-suited to provide long-term capital, as well as our insight and experience in operating global businesses, to support the strategic objectives of the Mediclinic management team”.

In April, MSC agreed to buy Bollore’s African transport and logistics business for 5.7 billion euros ($6 billion), including debt, after buying a stake in Italian ferry operator Moby.