Lufthansa has said the stabilisation package being offered
by the German government is “not secured” over fears the measure could fail to
pass a shareholder vote at a general meeting next week.
The deal would see Lufthansa receive €9 billion in loans and
direct funding in exchange for the German government temporarily taking a 20
per cent stake in the company, which it intends to sell by the end of 2023.
Lufthansa would also be required to transfer up to 24 take-off and landing
slots at Frankfurt and Munich airports to a new competitor.
Lufthansa has repeatedly claimed that the stabilisation
package is its only option for long-term survival after it announced a €2 billion
loss in the first quarter. The group is planning to make up to 22,000 employees
redundant across the business as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
While both the supervisory and executive boards have
accepted the terms of the deal, the company’s largest single shareholder, Heinz
Hermann Thiele, who recently raised his stake to more than 15 per cent, told German
newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung he is not happy with the prospect of
the government taking such a large stake and having two seats on the supervisory
board. Thiele is pushing for other options to be explored.
In addition, Lufthansa said it expects attendance at its
general meeting on 25 June to be below 50 per cent. Under current regulations,
this means the company must get a two-thirds majority vote for the deal to be
accepted. With Thiele making public statements about his thoughts on the
package, the company is worried the deal could fall through, which could force
it to apply for bankruptcy protection.
In a statement, Lufthansa said: “The management board urgently
appeals to all private and institutional shareholders to exercise their voting
rights and to participate in the decision about the future of the company.”
The deadline for shareholders to register their attendance
is 20 June.