A consortium led by US private equity firm TPG Capital has pulled out of the auction for beleaguered Italian national airline Alitalia. It is the second time in two months the firm has failed to acquire an airline target.

TPG, which had an offer for Australian airline Qantas rejected last month, headed a bidding consortium for Alitalia that comprised distressed debt investor MatlinPatterson Global Advisers and Italian bank Mediobanca.