Lufthansa set to take 75 pc of AUA shares

German airline Lufthansa is to take an 85 per cent stake in Austrian Airlines (AUA) after shareholders accepted its buyout offer, Austrian Times reported.
The offer, which was made to shareholders on 27 February, expired on Monday.
ufthansa, which acquired a 41.56 per cent stake in the struggling carrier from the Austrian government, demanded more than 75 per cent of shares to finish off the deal.
The concern always made clear they wanted a stake as big as possible.
The commission supervising the deal confirmed today more than 85 per cent of AUA shares were offered to Lufthansa by its holders.
Small shareholders were offered 4.49 Euros per share by the German company.
Small shareholders’ representative Wilhelm Rasinger said he expected 90 per cent of holders to sell their shares.
The European Commission (EC) is expected to check the takeover deal by 17 June.
AUA recently revealed tumbling first quarter turnover figures. The company said turnover fell 15.5 per cent to 438.8 million Euros while operative earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) dropped by almost 46 per cent to finish 77 million Euros in the red.
AUA co-chief Peter Malanik said the economic crisis had hit eastern European countries particularly hard and led to a "temporary decrease in essential transportation streams" for AUA.
The company, which was founded in 1957, had a net loss of 429.5 million Euros last year, compared to 3.3 million Euros net profit in 2007.
Around 2,000 flight attendants will begin part-time work from next month to cut costs. The form has already put 2,600 of its ground personnel into part time work.

Source: Transportweekly