Germany to Sell €458m Stake in Lufthansa

DALLAS - Germany is looking to raise €458m through the sale of a stake in Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LH) to unwind some of the holdings it took to keep the carrier afloat during the pandemic.

The news comes on the heels of LH announcing on Monday that it had reached an agreement with its pilots to increase cockpit crew compensation along with retroactive pay in exchange for a 10-month ban on strike actions.

According to a term sheet posted on Tuesday, the German government intends to sell the equivalent of a 6.2% interest in Europe's largest airline to institutional investors via an accelerated bookbuild. The specified price range is €6.09 to €6.15, which is less than the Frankfurt closing share price.

The government was able to reduce its ownership at a large profit in November after LH paid off the final installment of its €9bn bailout ahead of schedule.

According to BNN Bloomberg, Germany's richest man might be a ready buyer after declaring his desire to purchase additional shares of Europe's largest airline. According to a filing from last week, Klaus-Michael Kuehne wants to increase his 15.01% ownership in the carrier after spending some of his riches from the logistics industry.

Early on Tuesday, shares of LH dropped 1.5%. The company is now worth €7.6bn.

This is a developing story.

Featured image: Fabrizio Spicuglia/Airways