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As an update on Lufthansa's ongoing takeover attempt of Austrian Airlines, the German flag-carrier sent out the following announcement:
The European Commission has not yet approved anti-trust immunity for the planned merger of Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines. Under the terms of Lufthansa’s public takeover offer, completion of the transaction is subject, inter alia, to the suspensive conditions precedent to anti-trust immunity and the approval by the EU commission of 500 million euros in restructuring aid. Currently the takeover offer foresees that these conditions have to be fulfilled by July 31, 2009.
Since it became apparent that a resilient agreement with the European Commission can be reached, but the formal approval cannot be obtained in due time, Lufthansa in agreement with Österreichische Industrieholding AG (ÖiAG) has filed an application with the Austrian Takeover Commission, to prolong the deadline to August 31, 2009 for the fulfillment of the suspensive conditions precedent.
The takeover attempt has met with resistance from the EU, which fears a lack of competition for flights from Vienna.