Austrian government approves national carrier share sale

On Tuesday, the government of Austria gave its approval to a plan that involves selling part of its 43 per cent stake in financially-troubled Austrian Airlines, to a foreign airline investor, according to the Austrian Finance Minister, Wilhelm Molterer.

The minister informed journalists of the decision after the government decided that interested parties could formally file their offers over the next two months. OeIAG, the government holding company, would then have until the end of December to make their choice from the offers received.

OeIAG will invite expressions of interest for investment in the airline in foreign newspaper advertisements later this week. It is expected that due diligence will commence in September, which should lead to a short list of candidates by some time in October.

The government’s approval of the stake sale, under which 25 percent of the national carrier must remain under the control of a core of Austrian shareholders, had been anticipated after the sale was endorsed last week by Austrian party leaders.

Other relevant conditions regarding the sale include maintaining the brand as Austrian Airlines, keeping the headquarters in Austria and continuing to use the Vienna Airport as the airline’s main hub.

Other than the OeIAG stake, currently worth 158 million euros, two Austrian banks and one insurer jointly own seven per cent, Austrian Airlines itself holds three per cent and 47 per cent of the shares are freely floated.

The supervisory board of Austrian Airlines is in favour of a sale to Lufthansa of Germany, although Aeroflot, Air France-KLM and Turkish Airlines are also considered possibilities.

www.aua.com