Lufthansa seen offering to pay E200m for Air Berlin assets: source

A Lufthansa bid price of E200m to buy assets from insolvent Air Berlin plus E100m to meet operating costs is roughly correct, a source familiar with the talks said Sunday. The newspaper Bild am Sonntag earlier reported the figures, citing sources close to the proceedings. The newspaper said that there could be three months between signing a purchasing contract and implementing the transaction because German and European competition authorities would need to vet any deal. After it filed for insolvency last month the Berlin government granted Air Berlin a E150m bridging loan to keep the airline flying for three months. On Thursday Air Berlin’s creditor committee said it would talk to Lufthansa and Britain’s easyJet as possible buyers for the carrier’s assets, giving three weeks for negotiations. The source told Reuters that slots at Duesseldorf airport are among the assets that Lufthansa and easyJet both want. Sources familiar with the matter said last week that Lufthansa was bidding a three-digit-million sum with the offer covering parts of Air Berlin, its leisure subsidiary Niki and regional unit Luftfahrt Gesellschaft Walter.<br/>