Lufthansa takes majority stake in bmi

www.lufthansa.com

Lufthansa has reportedly paid £48 million for a majority stake in bmi, in a transaction organised through a UK holding company.

In the move, the German carrier acquires the 50 per cent plus one share holding of bmi founder Sir Michael Bishop, and follows a settlement, out-of-court, of a dispute over the shareholding.

In the “compromise settlement”, Lufthansa will pay £175 million.

Sir Michael’s share in bmi is held by The BBW Partnership, a UK holding company.

According to the terms of the agreement, the deal will be completed by 1 July, and BBW’s stake will be purchased by LHBD Holding, a UK-based holding company, which is 35 per cent-owned by Lufthansa.

Once it obtains necessary traffic rights, Lufthansa, currently the owner of 30 per cent of bmi’s shares, expects to increase its shareholding in LHBD to 100 per cent.

A statement issued by the German carried said: “By this transaction, Lufthansa is expanding its interest in an airline whose strategic asset is its control of more than 11% of all the take-off and landing slots at London Heathrow, Europe’s largest airport.”

It added: “In recent years, however, bmi has experienced increasing financial challenges.

“These have been strongly exacerbated by the sharp rise in fuel prices in the past year and the ongoing global economic crisis.”

Thanks to www.travelmole.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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