Lufthansa Approaches Air Berlin

Lufthansa Approaches Air Berlin

Lufthansa Approaches Air Berlin. Lufthansa is offering to pay 200 million euros (USD 239 million) to buy its smaller rival, Air Berlin, and is willing to pay up to 100 million euros to cover the operating costs to keep the airline in between, reported the BamS daily.

Citing sources familiar with the procedures, the newspaper said there could be three months between signing a purchase contract and implementing the transaction because German and European competition authorities would have to look at any deal first, BamS said.

Last month, the Berlin government granted Air Berlin a bridge loan of 150 million euros to support the airline for three months. On Thursday, Air Berlin's creditors' committee said it would talk to Lufthansa and Britain's easyJet as potential buyers for the airline's aviation business, giving it three weeks to negotiate.

Sources familiar with the matter said last week that Lufthansa was offering a three-digit million sum with the offer covering Air Berlin, its leisure airline Niki and regional subsidiary Luftfahrt Gesellschaft Walter.

Lufthansa itself has said that it has made an offer for parts of Air Berlin. BamS also said that its sources had said next week that Air Berlin would have to return the planes used on its long-haul routes to two companies from which it leases airplanes.