Deutsche Lufthansa AG is exercising its option to acquire a majority stake in ITA Airways in June of this year. This will increase its stake from 41 percent to 90 percent. The Supervisory Board approved this decision by the Lufthansa Executive Board at its meeting yesterday.
The acquisition of the additional 49 percent stake will take place at a previously agreed purchase price of 325 million euros. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, primarily from the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027. Following this, ITA Airways will be fully integrated into the Lufthansa Group, both organizationally and financially.
Since Jan. 17, 2025, Deutsche Lufthansa AG has held a 41 percent stake in ITA Airways as a minority shareholder. Upon the conclusion of the purchase agreement with the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) in June 2023, an annually recurring option for Deutsche Lufthansa AG to acquire an additional 49 percent stake in ITA Airways was agreed upon. This option is now being exercised along with the accompanying acquisition of a majority stake in the Italian flagship carrier. The seller is the MEF, which will initially continue to hold the remaining 10 percent of the shares in ITA Airways. In 2028, this tranche may also be acquired by Lufthansa.
Carsten Spohr, CEO of the Lufthansa Group and Chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said that: “Following the acquisition of the first 41 percent stake in ITA Airways last year, we promised the fastest airline integration in our history. We aimed to complete all major integration steps into the Lufthansa Group within just 18 months.”
Spohr continued: “We have not only kept this promise. We were even faster: All customer-facing interfaces are already integrated today — with the exception of North Atlantic flights, where, as is well known, regulatory approval for our merger is still pending.”
He said that: “Passengers already experience ITA Airways as an integrated part of the Lufthansa Group. With unified booking, sales, and fare systems, the Miles and More frequent flyer program, Star Alliance membership, and access to our global network of premium lounges.”
And Spohr added: “Integration is also progressing in the cargo business. Since last year, Lufthansa Cargo has been marketing ITA Airways’ cargo capacity, which alone corresponds to the additional capacity of three Boeing 777 freighters. In light of this success story, we decided to exercise our option to acquire an additional 49 percent stake as early as June of this year.”
