Business Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
AIRLINES
LUFTHANSA IN TALKS TO TAKE OVER SWISS INTERNATIONAL
Lufthansa AG, Europe’s second-biggest airline, said it is in talks to take over unprofitable competitor Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. in the latest step of consolidation among the region’s carriers.
The companies developed a business model that needs to be approved by the carriers’ supervisory boards and Swiss’s major shareholders, the airlines said in emailed statements today. Once approved, Cologne, Germany-based Lufthansa said it will submit an offer based on the average Swiss share price in recent weeks to free-float shareholders, who own about 14% of the stock.
Lufthansa and Swiss, whose predecessor Swissair Group was the region’s seventh biggest before its collapse in 2001, last held merger talks in 2003 as both carriers felt the effects of competition from discount airlines. Swiss has posted almost $1.57 billion in losses since its 2002 creation. Lufthansa reported a $538 million profit last year after a record loss of $1.325 billion in 2003.
– Bloomberg News
