Lufthansa’s acquistion of ITA Airways stake gets conditional EU approval

On Wednesday, the European Commission said, “The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of joint control of ITA Airways by Deutsche Lufthansa and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance. The approval is conditional upon full compliance with the remedies offered by Lufthansa and the MEF. Today’s decision follows an in-depth investigation of the proposed transaction, including the sending of a Statement of Objections. Lufthansa and ITA operate an extensive network of routes from their respective hubs in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Their operations are to a significant extent complementary as they operate from different hubs in Central Europe and Italy respectively. Lufthansa has joint ventures with United Airlines and Air Canada for transatlantic routes as well as with All Nippon Airways for routes to Japan. Whilst ITA is performing well today, ITA’s long-term sustainability as a stand-alone carrier would have remained highly uncertain absent the transaction.”