A Lufthansa viheti az Austrian Airlines 41.6%-os részvénypakettjét. A két rivális kérő, az orosz S7 és az Air France-KLM már nincsenek versenyben.
Az S7 nem tudott az EU szabályainak megfelelő dokumentációt benyújtani, az Air France-KLM pedig nem adott ajánlatot a határidő lejártáig. A vételár és az üzlet egyéb részletei az elkövetkezendő hetekben kerülnek véglegesítésre a Lufthansával, a végleges megállapodás egy hónapon belül várható. A Lufthasa egyelőre nem volt hajlandó kommentálni a döntést.
További részletek angolulul olvashatók az alábbi cikkben:
Austrian Airlines to be sold to Germany’s Lufthansa: holding co.
Austrian Airlines will be sold to German carrier Lufthansa, the Austrian state holding company OeIAG, which has a 41.6-percent stake in the loss-making airline, announced Thursday evening.
„As of now, OeIAG will only hold concluding talks with Lufthansa,” it said in a statement after a meeting of its privatisation committee.
Rival suitors „(Russia’s) S7 and Air France-KLM are no longer in the bidding process,” it added.
OeIAG explained that S7 had failed to submit documents that were in conformity with the EU bidding rules, while Air France-KLM had not made an offer within the allotted time.
S7 and Air France-KLM have been informed of the holding company’s decision, it added.
OeIAG director Peter Michaelis said the sale price and details in the deal with Lufthansa would still be finalised in the coming weeks, but added that he expected an agreement within a month, which would allow the holding company’s directors to examine the decision at their next meeting on December 5.
Among the issues to discuss are Lufthansa’s reported demands that the government take over 500 million euros (638 million dollars) of AUA’s debt of more than a billion euros.
Lufthansa is offering only a nominal price for OeIAG’s 41.6-percent stake — just one euro cent per share or 360,000 euros (445,200 dollars) in all, according to media reports.
On Thursday evening, Lufthansa refused to comment on the decision.
OeIAG also noted in its statement that an experts’ report had concluded that all bidders had been given access to the same information during the privatisation process.
S7 and Air France-KLM had earlier implied that their rival Lufthansa had been favoured during the process as it belongs to the Star Alliance airline network, like Austrian Airlines (AUA).
The experts’ report found that the two airlines’ exclusion from the privatisation process was in line with EU regulation, OeIAG said.
Air France-KLM reportedly expressed renewed interest for Austrian Airlines last week, in a letter by its chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta, after it had earlier decided not to put forward a firm offer by the end-of-October deadline.
The government also set back the sale deadline until December 31.
At Thursday’s close, AUA shares were down 0.38 percent to 2.63 euros on the Vienna stock exchange.
Forrás: AFP, Yahoo news
Fotó: AdamS
