February 4, 2011 Lufthansa denied its European sales director said the German airline would be interested in buying Scandinavian rival SAS if its owners put the loss-making carrier up for sale.
Finnish newspaper Kauppalehti had cited Karsten Benz, chief of European sales and marketing at Lufthansa, as saying it would "surely" be interested in buying SAS if it was for sale.
"The newspaper report is wrong. Karsten Benz did not make the statements quoted there," Lufthansa spokesman Andreas Bartels said in Frankfurt on Friday.
The idea of a takeover by Lufthansa has been a recurring theme as SAS, half-owned by Denmark, Norway and Sweden, struggles with losses after a series of costly restructurings.
Norway and Denmark said last month they would consider selling their stakes.
SAS shares have lost about half their value over the past year but rose 15 percent on December 23 after a report that Lufthansa planned a takeover.
A person close to Lufthansa said at the time there were no talks between SAS and the German carrier.
Lufthansa chief executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber said on October 28 it would refrain from major acquisitions until it had integrated and turned around recent buys.
(Reuters)
Finnish newspaper Kauppalehti had cited Karsten Benz, chief of European sales and marketing at Lufthansa, as saying it would "surely" be interested in buying SAS if it was for sale.
"The newspaper report is wrong. Karsten Benz did not make the statements quoted there," Lufthansa spokesman Andreas Bartels said in Frankfurt on Friday.
The idea of a takeover by Lufthansa has been a recurring theme as SAS, half-owned by Denmark, Norway and Sweden, struggles with losses after a series of costly restructurings.
Norway and Denmark said last month they would consider selling their stakes.
SAS shares have lost about half their value over the past year but rose 15 percent on December 23 after a report that Lufthansa planned a takeover.
A person close to Lufthansa said at the time there were no talks between SAS and the German carrier.
Lufthansa chief executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber said on October 28 it would refrain from major acquisitions until it had integrated and turned around recent buys.
(Reuters)
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