Lufthansa is drawing closer to owning part of Italian airline Ita Airways after it became the sole airline to submit a bid for a stake in the successor to Alitalia, Rome confirmed on Wednesday evening. Earlier, the German company said that it had sent an offer initally for a minority stake. As the sole owner, the Italian state is now examining whether to enter into exclusive negotiations with Lufthansa for a final purchase agreement, which could take several weeks. Lufthansa also said it wanted an option to acquire the remaining shares at a later date. Amounts were not disclosed. Lufthansa exp…