Germany to take 25.1% stake in Lufthansa -Der Spiegel

Lufthansa is negotiating a 10 billion euro ($10.98 billion) bailout that would result in Germany taking a 25.1% stake in the airline, weekly paper Der Spiegel said on Friday.

Of that total, 5.5 billion euros would be in the form of non-voting capital, for which the German government wants a coupon of 9%, the paper said. A further 3.5 billion euros in loans would be provided by state bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KFW), the paper said, adding that Belgium, Austria, and Switzerland might contribute towards the bailout.

Lufthansa declined to comment but a government source confirmed to Reuters that negotiations were ongoing. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, meanwhile, told the Passauer Neue Presse newspaper that "taxpayers can count on us not to conduct these talks naively" but declined to elaborate on how negotiations are progressing.

Reuters on Wednesday reported that Lufthansa is negotiating a 9 billion euro bailout, with loans from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland amounting to 6 billion euros, with an equity component of about 3 billion euros, citing a source close to the matter. ($1 = 0.9107 euros)