Filenews 16 August 2021
Germany plans to sell up to a quarter of its stake (which stands at 20%) in Lufthansa in the coming weeks, the German financial service stressed, citing positive developments at the rescued airline.
The company's stock is down as much as 5% after the announcement.
The 20% share of the state was bought out for €300 million as part of the bailout for the German airline, as both the company and the entire aviation sector have been severely hit by the coronavirus crisis.
Lufthansa had received a bailout of €6 billion from the German stabilisation fund set up to help businesses cope with the pandemic.
This fund stressed that it would sell the total percentage, which currently costs more than €1 billion before the end of 2023.
Lufthansa plans to issue new shares, possibly before the September 26th parliamentary elections, to help it return bailout funds to taxpayers.
Shareholders have approved a possible capital increase of up to €5.5 billion.
