Austrian Min: Lufthansa Made New Austrian Air Proposal To EU
July 16 2009 - 2:46PM
Dow Jones News
German airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE) on Thursday made
new proposals to the European Union in its bid to get clearance for
its planned takeover of Austrian Airlines AG (AUA.VI), a spokesman
for the Austrian finance ministry told Dow Jones Newswires
Thursday.
Lufthansa spokesman Andreas Bartels also said there are new
proposals. Both declined to be more specific.
Earlier Thursday, the Austrian finance ministry issued a press
statement in which Austrian Finance Minister Josef Proell welcomed
Lufthansa's new, modified offer for Austrian Air.
The European Commission, the executive branch of the EU, later
issued a statement that said it "can confirm that it has received a
new offer from Lufthansa in the context of its ongoing in-depth
investigation of Lufthansa's proposed takeover of Austrian
Airlines."
"The Commission will study the offer carefully but cannot make
any further comment at this stage," it said.
Earlier Thursday Austrian newspaper Der Standard cited unnamed
commission sources as saying Lufthansa has submitted a revised
offer, which includes dropping flights between Vienna and Frankfurt
and Vienna and Geneva.
Company Web sites: www.lufthansa.com; www.bmf.gv.at;
www.aua.com; http://ec.europa.eu
-By Frankfurt Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; +49-69-29725-500;
djnews.frankfurt@dowjones.com