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UniCredit CEO says banks agree on Alitalia debt restructuring

MILAN (Reuters) - Creditor banks of Alitalia have reached agreement on how to share the burden of a debt restructuring for the Italian airline, UniCredit Chief Executive's Federico Ghizzoni said on Monday.

The green light from the banks, together with an agreement between Alitalia and the unions on job cuts, are key factors for the airline to seal the final terms of a rescue deal with Abu Dhabi's Etihad.

"All is set among us," Ghizzoni told journalists at the end of a closed-door meeting he attended with executives of Intesa Sanpaolo , Banca Monte dei Paschi , Banca Popolare di Sondrio and Alitalia. He did not give any details.

Until now Banca Popolare di Sondrio had resisted the other creditors' attempts to find common ground on the restructuring of Alitalia debt, which stood at 800 million euros ($1 billion) at the beginning of June.

Alitalia has also made progress on jobs in recent days as it reached a deal with all but one union on layoffs on Sunday.

Abu Dhabi's state-owned airline and Alitalia laid down last month the principal terms and conditions for Etihad to buy 49 percent of the Italian carrier and pledged to finalise the details as soon as possible.

Etihad's Chief Executive James Hogan is due to arrive in Rome for an event on Tuesday.



(Reporting by Andrea Mandala; writing by Francesca Landini; Editing by Janet Lawrence)