Lufthansa Board approves acquisition of Austrian Airlines

In the course of the period specified by Austrian takeover law, Lufthansa will also make a public takeover bid to Austrian Airlines’ free float shareholders. The company is applying to the Austrian Takeover Commission for an extension of the notification period to the longest permissible time. The bid price will correspond to the average weighted market price of the Austrian Airlines share over the six months preceding this announcement. Subject to an examination by the Takeover Commission, this figure will be EUR 4.44 per share. In total, some EUR 215million will be offered to private and institutional free float shareholders as part of the takeover bid.

Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Chief Executive Officer Lufthansa Group, said: “Gaining the support of our Supervisory Board for the acquisition of Austrian Airlines is an important step which paves the way for ÖIAG, the government in Vienna and the European Commission to make their decisions following due consideration of the transaction. Our bid is fair. It takes the interests of all those concerned into account and shares the encumbrances and risks fairly. The consequences of the financial markets crisis and its effects on the real economy also have a major impact on the aviation industry. Structural changes increase the likelihood of Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines sharing a brighter future.”

The ÖIAG Supervisory Board meeting to approve the proposed transaction is to be held on 05-Dec-08. The parties then intend to sign the appropriate contracts.

Execution of these contracts is subject, inter alia, to the conditions precedent of anti-trust approval and the approval of a EUR 500million restructuring grant to be made by the Republic of Austria, both of which must be granted by the European Commission. Furthermore, Lufthansa must hold 75% of the shares in Austrian Airlines – including those transferred by ÖIAG – after the end of the regular acceptance period for the public takeover bid.






(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 04-Dec-08
 

Other Lufthansa News

• Lufthansa launching flights from Munich to Iraq
• Lufthansa Cargo reduces short-time working to 20 per cent
• Lufthansa is planning flights to Iraq
• Germanwings flies with Lufthansa Systems’ navigation charts
• David Albaiceta named new GM Asia Pacific at Lufthansa Cargo Charter
• AeroMobile hails "transformational" Lufthansa deal
• FlyNet takes off again: Lufthansa relaunches inflight Internet
• First Embraer 195 jet is delivered to Lufthansa Cityline
• Lufthansa inks codeshare pact with JetBlue
• Lufthansa expands its services to Africa