aviation
Cartel office: Lufthansa can join Air Baltic
The Lufthansa Group continues to grow. The Frankfurters can acquire a minority share to Air Baltic. The Latvians are already an important service provider for the group.
As planned, the Lufthansa Group can start with a minority of ten percent at the Latvian airline Air Baltic. The Bundeskartellamt sees competition law problems on some routes between Germany and the Baltic States. Nevertheless, one had to approve the merger because it was so-called Bagatell markets with too low sales below 20 million euros, the authority said.
Less competition in the Baltic States
According to the antitrust guard, passengers must expect rising ticket prices – for example in the Baltic capitals of Riga, Tallinn or Vilnius. The authority states that the companies have so far been in close competition to each other on a number of these and similar routes. Lufthansa, on the other hand, emphasizes: “Air Baltic remains a completely independent company and continues to act independently in the competition.”
The main owner of the airline founded in 1995 is the Latvian state. Before a possible IPO, he also wants to participate in the neighboring states of Estonia and Lithuania in the airline. Lufthansa has acquired Air Baltic for 14 million euros in convertible bonds, which corresponds to a share of 10 percent. She also receives a seat on the Supervisory Board.
The cartel office expects Air Baltic to take into account the interests of its new minority shareholder in their decisions in the future. Air Baltic, which is considered to be very reliable, rents aircraft and crews (wet lease) to the companies of the Lufthansa Group. The Cartel Office explains that European competition law would only apply if Lufthansa obtains control over Air Baltic.
Notification of the Bundeskartellamt
dpa
Source: Stern
