Russian airline Aeroflot will join UniCredit to bid for Alitalia, Italy’s largest bank said on Monday, as two other bidders joined forces, reducing the total number of possible offers to three, the Russian carrier’s banking partner Unicredito Italiano said on Monday April 2.

UniCredit investment banking head Sergio Ermotti said the bank, which had said it was working with a client on a bid, would present a non-binding offer for the loss-making airline with Aeroflot and could be open to other European carriers.

Monday is the deadline for new prospective bidders to come forward for the Italian airline, which has a market capitalization of about 1.3 billion euros.

There had been speculation in Italian newspapers that long-time Alitalia partner Air France or Germany’s Lufthansa might emerge as UniCredit’s mystery partner.

Alitalia shares were suspended from trade pending a statement. Aeroflot’s deputy chief executive, Lev Koshlyakov, initially said the carrier had wanted to bid at some point but could not confirm it was going ahead

Two other prospective bidders U.S. private equity fund Texas Pacific Group and MatlinPatterson — will join forces to present one offer, sources close to the operation said, and will be joined by investment bank Mediobanca.

Italy’s government, which owns 49.9 percent of Alitalia, has asked for offers for at least 39.9 percent of the airline, which would automatically trigger a full bid under Italian law.

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