Offer for Alitalia is withdrawn

A group of Italian investors unanimously withdrew a bid to buy Alitalia after six of its nine unions failed to back a rescue plan, a move that edged Italy’s national carrier closer to failure, the group said in a statement.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi laid the blame on the unions that refused to sign off on an industrial plan that would have had the investors inject 1 billion euros, or $1.4 billion, into the bankrupt airline, retain its profitable assets and combine them with smaller Air One.