Lufthansa Supervisory Board Approves Purchase of 41.56 Share In Austrian Airlines For $463,000

December 4, 2008 11:01 a.m. EST

Cologne, Germany (AHN) - Lufthansa announced its plan to acquire a 41.56 percent share in Austrian Airlines following the approval of the buy-in by the air carrier's supervisory board on Wednesday.

The purchase will be for $463,000 (366,000 euro). After Lufthansa completes its assessment of the Austrian air carrier's performance, it will pay another $205.4 million (162 million euro).

The deal, though, must be approved by federal regulators and the Austrian privatization agency, which is expected to come out with a decision by Friday. Another condition to the sale is for the EU to approve a $633.6 million (500 million euro) cash infusion from the Austrian government for the restructuring.

Following the news of Lufthansa's plan to buy the ailing Austrian air carrier, shares of Austrian Airlines went up by 39.6 percent and closed at $4.70 (3.70 euro) per stock on Wednesday at the Vienna Stock Market.

Austrian Airlines has $1.14 billion (900 million euro) of debts and posted a $20.8 million (16.4 million euro) net loss for the third quarter.