The Lufthansa Group (LH Group) has returned to being privately owned following the sale of remaining shares by Economic Stabilization Fund of the Federal Republic of Germany (WSF).
The WSF had acquired a 20% shareholding of the LH Group in the summer of 2020, during the COVID pandemic, for an amount of €306 million (R5,4bn) in order to sustain Lufthansa through the lean days of the pandemic. At the time of the agreement, it was decided that the holding would be sold by latest October 2023.
This week, the WSF announced that it had sold its remaining 6,2% of the shares to various investors via an accelerated book-building process. Following the sale, the WSF no longer holds any equity stake in the group, and all conditions of the agreement have come to an end.
Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of the LH Group, Carsten Spohr, said: “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."
