German Minister Defends Lufthansa Plan After Meeting Key Shareholder
Frankfurt (dpa) - German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz defended the government package of 9 billion euros (10 billion dollars) to rescue flagship airline Lufthansa following a meeting on Monday with a key investor critical of state intervention.
Scholz said the meeting, attended by the investor, Heinz Hermann Thiele, Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr and Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, had proceeded in a friendly atmosphere.
"This is good," he said
Altmaier said the parties had agreed to keep the talks confidential ahead of an extraordinary shareholders' general meeting set for Thursday.
There are concerns that the planned cash injection could be scuppered if too few shareholders attend that meeting.
On Sunday, Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr said that shareholders registered for the meeting comprised less than 38 per cent of capital. If the shareholder presence represents less than 50 per cent of capital, a two-thirds majority is needed in the vote.
This could be difficult as Thiele, who holds more than 15 per cent after recent purchases, has not committed to approving the deal and recently criticized the state aid.
In comments to the FAZ business daily last week, Thiele spoke out against government intervention, stating his "firm conviction that the state is not the best entrepreneur."
But Scholz defended the bailout plan earlier on Monday. "We had a very good discussion with the Lufthansa management and developed a very good plan, which also found agreement in Brussels," Scholz told a conference in Frankfurt via video link from Berlin.
Spohr has in the past also backed taking the company into insolvency, should the German state or the EU impose too-stringent conditions.
Lufthansa shares recovered slightly to close at 9.85 euros on Monday, after falling by almost 9 per cent in opening trading on concerns the rescue package might not receive approval.
The share price dropped to 9.28 euros (10.40 dollars) before recovering on Lufthansa's first day of trading on the MDAX stock exchange, a lower league, after the airline dropped out of Germany's blue-chip DAX list of 30 major players.
Heavy losses, linked to the coronavirus pandemic's catastrophic impact on air travel, had led to the demotion.
———
©2020 Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany)
Visit Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) at www.dpa.de/English.82.0.html
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.