Air France-KLM announces conditional Alitalia bid

PARIS, March 10 (Reuters) - Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday its board had agreed to make a conditional offer for Italian carrier Alitalia (AZPIa.MI: Quote, Profile, Research).

The offer is conditional on the commitment of unions to the project, the Franco-Dutch airline said in a statement.

"The board of directors of Air France-KLM on March 10, 2008, authorised the company to submit on March 14th, 2008, an offer on Alitalia subject to a certain number of suspensive conditions including notably the commitment of the trade unions," it said in a statement.

"The integration of Alitalia in the Air France-KLM group will reinforce its position as a European leader and also will allow Alitalia to recover its status of being a national leader," it said.

The Franco-Dutch airline's board met earlier on Monday.

Alitalia's stock slipped 1.4 percent to 0.5863 euros on Monday, valuing the Italian company at 813 million euros.