German govt divests 6% Lufthansa stake, nets €760mn

The Economic Stabilization Fund of the Federal Republic of Germany (WSF) announced that all the remaining shares of its holding in Deutsche Lufthansa AG had been sold to various investors at a profit of €760 million ($760 million).

WSF generated total proceeds of €1.07 billion ($1.07 billion) from the sale, Jutta Doenges, Managing Director, WSF was quoted as saying by TheEdgeMarkets.

Following the sale of its remaining shares, WSF no longer holds any equity stake in Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

"The WSF last held around 6.2 percent of the company's share capital (74.4 million shares)," said the release from Lufthansa. The WSF had acquired its original shareholding of 20 percent of Deutsche Lufthansa AG for €306 million in the summer of 2020. "It was agreed at the time that the holding would be sold by October 2023."

Deutsche Lufthansa AG had already repaid all the loans and deposits it had received from the German government ahead of schedule in November 2021, the statement added.

"On behalf of all Lufthansa employees, I would like to thank the current and previous German government and all German taxpayers for their support of our Lufthansa during the most severe financial crisis in our company's history," says Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO, Deutsche Lufthansa AG. "The stabilisation of Lufthansa was successful, and is also paying off financially for the German government and thus for the taxpayer. We had already repaid the stabilisation loan amounts earlier than expected; and the WSF has now also sold its last remaining shares one year before the deadline. This brings the stabilisation of Lufthansa to a successful conclusion. Lufthansa is once again fully in private hands. All Lufthansa employees worldwide will continue to work hard to strengthen our position among the world's leading airline groups, for example through a broad-based premium product and quality offensive."

Logistics entrepreneur Klaus-Michael Kuehne increased his stake in Lufthansa to 17.5%, Reuters reported. "This underlines Kuehne Holding's positive view of the company."

Klaus-Michael Kühne, through Kühne Aviation GmbH, had increased his stake in Lufthansa to more than 15 percent in July.

So, the hike in holding by Klaus-Michael Kuehne in Lufthansa by over 2 percent has happened during the German government divestment.