Lufthansa set to land Austrian Airlines
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The Cologne-basedairline said its supervisory board had agreed to acquire the 41.6% stake heldby Austria’sprivatisation agency, OeIAG, for EUR366,000 (US$463,000) and, pending theAustrian airline’s performance, a further EUR162 million.
Austrian posted a net loss of EUR16.4 million for the three months ending 30September, compared with a profit of EUR20.6 million a year earlier, the reportsaid.
Analysts welcomed the acquisition. “This is an adequate acquisition,” UweWeinreich, an analyst with Unicredit Global Research told Forbes.com. “Bothairlines will be more powerful in their operations in Eastern Europe, and Austrian Airlines will benefit from a higher usage ofLufthansa’s aircrafts, fuel hedging and higher purchasing power.”
The deal is subject to regulatory approval andagreement from OeIAG’s supervisory board, which meets later today. Forbes addedthat the deal is also subject to approval by the EU that EUR500 million inrestructuring aid floated by Austria’s government be approved – one of theconditions that Lufthansa set in October to ensure that Austrian’s debt wouldbe assumed by the state.
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