German carrier Lufthansa is not in talks with Etihad Airways for a stake sale, sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, denying rumoured media reports that stated otherwise.
"A financial stake is out of question for the moment," a source, who was familiar with the airliner's plans was quoted as saying by Reuters. Another source said the Abu Dhabi-based carrier will not be willing to pay for a stake in the German carrier.
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An Italian media report had earlier said that managers from the two airlines were reportedly holding talks and vetting the possibility of Etihad acquiring 30-40 percent stake in Lufthansa as a pre-cursor to a merger. Following the news, shares of Lufthansa went up by six percent on Tuesday.
In December 2016, Lufthansa and Etihad had inked a code-sharing agreement to link their route networks. The two airlines said they would look at further cooperation. The first source quoted by the agency said Lufthansa was indeed in talks with Etihad over code-sharing and catering cooperation, but not merger.
However, analysts quoted by the agency questioned the benefits of the deal. They also cited foreign ownership rules with regard to international traffic lights and called the rumoured deal as "implausible."
69 percent of the German-based carrier is owned by German investors, 13 percent by US investors and 9 percent by other nationalities.
