Lufthansa's largest shareholder, Klaus-Michael Kühne, wants to increase his stake following talks with the airline's management, according to a statement by his Kühne Holding AG.
"Our interest in Deutsche Lufthansa AG is unbroken," said the 85-year-old billionaire, indicating his intention to "acquire further shares when opportunities arise". This followed a "constructive discussion" recently with Lufthansa Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr and Chairman Karl-Ludwig Kley.
Kühne already holds 15.01% in the German carrier, making him the largest single shareholder.
The statement is a volte-face on comments he only made last month to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung when he declared he was not planning to increase his stake beyond 15% nor take over the German's federal government's remaining share of around 10%. "In principle, I would be interested, but such an increase is not up for discussion," he said last month, explaining this would give him a vetoing minority of 25%, which was politically unfeasible. Berlin must sell its Lufthansa stake acquired during the pandemic by 2023 at the latest.
Germany's competition watchdog (Bundeskartellamt) in August 2022 approved Kühne's last share hike from 10% to 15.01%. The regulator said that even with 15%, Kühne could be a minority shareholder with de facto vetoing powers as Lufthansa's annual general meetings have low attendance figures. Nevertheless, the deal had raised no "far-reaching competition concerns", it said, despite Swiss logistics subsidiary Kuehne+Nagel being a major air freight customer of Lufthansa.
Kühne is also a significant shareholder in German container shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd, sparking industry speculation he may be targeting Lufthansa's lucrative air freight business.
