Lufthansa needs bailout, takeover protection, minister tells RP

Deutsche Lufthansa has to be bailed out by the German government and needs protection against a potential foreign takeover, Hesse’s PM, Volker Bouffier, told daily Rheinische Post in an interview Friday. “It is right that we have to help Lufthansa. It needs to stay in Germany,” Bouffier said, adding that the government needs to prevent competitors from China, the US or the Middle East from secretly buying shares in the airline. The leader of the German state of Hesse, where Lufthansa has its primary hub, said the company will have to halt dividend payments for some time following a capital injection, and must accept that federal officials will have a say on bonuses. But the government will refrain from meddling with day-to-day business decisions, he added. Bouffier’s comments come ahead of an expected deal over a E9b bailout by the German government to rescue the airline from the coronavirus pandemic. Germany leaders are currently engaged in last-minute debates over the details of the transaction.<br/>