Etihad and Lufthansa in talks over a merger - report (translated)
Etihad, the UAE-based airline is in talks with Lufthansa [ETR:LHA] over a merger, Italian language daily Il Messaggero reported. The unsourced report said that the two sides have been holding top secret talks over the last few weeks over the operation, which would see Etihad first take a 30-40% stake in the German carrier before moving on to a complete merger.
The item said that Etihad would take the stake via a reserved capital increase.
The report noted that the merged entity would have revenues of close to EUR 40bn based on 2015 results.