Italy's troubled Alitalia hopeful it can raise cash

Debt-laden Italian flag carrier Alitalia said on Thursday it was confident it would raise enough cash by a December 8 deadline to avoid collapse, despite falling short of the desired-for capital increase. The troubled company, which is searching for a foreign partner to rescue it, said a capital increase aimed at raising up to 300 million euros ($408 million) had attracted 173 million euros from shareholders so far. The interest shown "should be confirmed in the coming days and at the latest by December 10," Alitalia said in a statement, adding: "There are still the conditions for the capital increase to be completely allocated". Alitalia has so far failed to convince its main shareholder Air France-KLM, which holds a 25-percent stake, to take part in the rescue, raising concern about the company's survival. The Italian government has said the state postal service has undertaken to contribute 75 million euros and has denied that this constitutes state aid.