The Italian government has asked ArcelorMittal SA to consider investing in or buying troubled Italian steel producer Ilva, the chief executive officer of the world's largest steelmaker said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. "We have been invited by the Italian government to look at it. That does not mean that we are going to acquire it," CEO Lakshmi Mittal said on the sidelines of the Steel Success Strategies conference in New York.

Facing the prospect of bankruptcy for the second time in five years, the board of Italy’s troubled flagship airline, Alitalia, agreed on Friday to a strategic partnership that would give a stake of up to 49 percent to the state-owned Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad Airways, the International New York Times reported. With no other viable alternative, and the company’s cash reserves dwindling, Alitalia’s chief executive, Gabriele Del Torchio, told reporters in Rome that the board had voted in favor of Etihad’s offer.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s government can’t impose a cap aimed at reining in state salaries on Bank of Italy officials’ pay as that would compromise the independence of the institution, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said, Bloomberg News reported. “Member states may not seek to influence the members of the national central banks’ decision-making bodies by amending national legislation affecting their remuneration,” said a May 26 opinion of the ECB Governing Council signed by Draghi, a fomer Bank of Italy governor.

Italian carrier Alitalia is in for some "painful and arduous" restructuring but should see a deal with Etihad Airways in a matter of weeks, the airline's chief executive officer said Monday, Gazzetta del Sud reported. Gabriele Del Torchio said that changes were necessary to attract essential investment from Abu Dhabi-based Etihad, which he said is prepared to invest 560 million euros in the cash-strapped Alitalia.

The UAE-based Etihad Airways has said that it is pressing ahead with a plan for an equity investment in the struggling Italian carrier Alitalia, The Economic Times reported. Etihad Airways, which has been in negotiations for almost a year, said it will forward a letter detailing the conditions precedent and the criteria for a proposed equity investment in the Italian airline which had to turn to shareholders for a 250 million pound cash injection for its bail-out in January.

European Union authorities on Monday told Italy to adopt more austerity policies, despite pleas from Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi for breathing space from EU requirements to cut its large debt burden, The Wall Street Journal reported. The move comes as part of annual directives sent by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, to its member states covering everything from the budget deficit to labor-market rules.

American investment firms have found numerous opportunities to capitalize on the turmoil in Europe’s banking sector by buying distressed assets. But one major private equity firm, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is taking a novel approach, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported.

Italy's two largest banks, UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, are teaming up with U.S. private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts to pool some of their bad loans into a vehicle that will provide fresh capital for the struggling companies, the Financial Times reported. The preliminary agreement, which also involves restructuring adviser Alvarez & Marsal, will be announced on Tuesday, the paper said on its website on Monday. The announcement is likely to say the four companies have signed a memorandum of understanding but are still working out many details, FT said.

Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Italy’s third-largest bank, plans to offer investors as much as 5 billion euros, or $6.9 billion, in new stock as it fights to avoid nationalization and braces for stress tests of its balance sheet by European regulators, the lender announced on Friday, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. The bank’s board approved the plan in an afternoon meeting, agreeing on €2 billion more than a previous management proposal that shareholders balked at in December.

The adviser of troubled Italian energy group Sorgenia will meet creditor banks on Thursday with a final deal over debt restructuring in sight, a source close to the matter said, Reuters reported. "The deal is within reach, there will be a meeting tomorrow," the source said on Wednesday. Sorgenia, controlled by holding company CIR has run up 1.9 billion euros of debt - 600 million euros of which must be cleared to keep it afloat in the short term. Sorgenia owes money to about 20 Italian and foreign banks. Its main creditor is bailed-out Italian lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.