90% of ITA Airways is acquired by Lufthansa Group.
The 73rd Annual General Meeting of Deutsche Lufthansa AG is now over. The meeting was attended by over 1,600 shareholders. The group declared during the meeting that it will purchase an extra 49% of the company for EUR 325 million, bringing its ownership of ITA Airways to 90%. The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance will keep the remaining 10% of the shares.
The deal is anticipated to completion in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory clearances, namely from the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). After that, ITA Airways will be completely incorporated, both financially and organisationally, into the Lufthansa Group.
For ITA Airways, this new phase is a significant industrial and strategic move. Joerg Eberhart, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of ITA Airways, stated, “Over the past few years, we have built a solid, recognisable company focused on quality thanks to the contribution of our people and the trust of our customers. Deutsche Lufthansa’s decision is a clear demonstration of the good work carried out so far. We look to the future with ambition and responsibility: full integration into the Lufthansa Group will enable us to compete more fiercely in international markets while continuing to showcase Italy’s worth, connectivity, and innovative potential to the world.”
“We promised the fastest airline integration in our history following the acquisition of the first 41% stake in ITA Airways last year. Our goal was to finish all significant integration processes into the Lufthansa Group in a little eighteen months,” stated Carsten Spohr, CEO of the Lufthansa Group and Chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, about the acquisition.
Notably, Dr. Karl-Ludwig Kley, who had served as the group’s chairman since 2017 and as a member of the Supervisory Board since 2013, has been replaced by Dr. Johannes Teyssen.
The Annual General Meeting’s agenda included nine measures, all of which were adopted by a sizable majority of shareholders. The members of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board were thus discharged for the fiscal year 2025 by a resounding majority.
The appropriation of retained earnings, which permits the issue of a dividend of EUR 0.33 per share, and the election of members of Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s Supervisory Board were among the items on the agenda for the Annual General Meeting. Wolfgang Nickl, a member of the Executive Board and CFO of Bayer AG, and Dr. Johannes Teyssen, a former Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of E.ON SE, were recently elected to the Supervisory Board. Karl Gernandt, the chairman of Kühne Holding AG’s board of directors, was re-elected to the supervisory board.
CEO Spohr stated to Kley during his speech, “You have shaped our transformation. Our common route to success, complete with highs, lows, triumphs, and setbacks. Additionally, you have always been a tremendous source of support for me personally, particularly in times of need.”
