EU to give green light to LH/SN soon!

[tolipanebas]

Austrian public broadcaster ORF is reporting the EU will formally approve the take-over of both OS and SN by LH in the coming days, on condition some consessions are made on the number of flights between Belgium on one hand and Germany and Austria on the other. The details have been spoken through with LH and have been labeled as acceptable by the Germans.

http://orf.at/?href=http%3A%2F%2Forf.at ... 31207.html

ORF's reporting is based on a news article in today's edition of Germany's Financial newspaper 'Handelsblatt', but sadly this is not available online yet.

[HighInTheSky]

How reliable is this source?

[tolipanebas]

How reliable is this source?

Handelsblatt is a top-rated German financial newspaper, not just a tabloid, so I'd say they are pretty reliable source of biz-news, regardless the topic.

As to the subject of LH's acquisitions, it was 'Handelsblatt' which broke the news of LH's interest in SN back in spring 2008, forcing LH (as a stock listed company) and then later also SN's shareholders to admit being in talks indeed, so they seem to have some very good contacts at the top of the German airlines.

Remember the news of the take-over talks between LH and SN Airholding came as a surprise to us all and even as a shock to SN's management at the time, as they were apparently kept fully in the dark by the shareholders of SN and were bussy deciding on the best alliance partner for the airline in a stand alone concept; needless to say the take-over talks between LH and the SN shareholders rendered their work pretty much useless as a take-over by LH would automatically entail STAR alliance membership, so the result was an open conflict between the management and the shareholders and the then-CEO quiting in anger.

I'd say based on their past track record in relation to LH's acquisitions, 'Handelsblatt' is to be believed on this too... formal announcement before the end of the month?

[Shanti]

Good luck to all the people at Brussels airlines!

[legfontosabb]

Remember the news of the take-over talks between LH and SN Airholding came as a surprise to us all and even as a shock to SN's management at the time, as they were apparently kept fully in the dark by the shareholders of SN and were bussy deciding on the best alliance partner for the airline in a stand alone concept; needless to say the take-over talks between LH and the SN shareholders rendered their work pretty much useless as a take-over by LH would automatically entail STAR alliance membership, so the result was an open conflict between the management and the shareholders and the then-CEO quiting in anger.

I don't share this vision dear tolipanebas. I believe the then-CEO had started the talks with LH himself.. the anger came when shareholders decided to take-over the negotiations and to meet LH without him, which led to a conflict about " who does what" at the top of the company (as stated in his press release when he left).

As for the team working on choosing the best alliance, it's quite normal in my opinion that they were asked to keep working untill a final agreement was reached with LH/Star.

So I don't think this was a shock neither a surprise for the top management of SN. It was certainly for many employees though.

[tolipanebas]

News now also picked up by Belgian media...

http://www.trends.be/fr/economie/entrep ... aine.html#

[HighInTheSky]

Very good

Do we have any idea if there will change anything soon? I mean in terms of extra planes or something else... With the 65 milion Euro they can already take some action, no? Or will they just sit on the money like a Swiss banker or mother goose who's watching here eggs?

[tolipanebas]

With the 65 milion Euro they can already take some action, no? Or will they just sit on the money like a Swiss banker or mother goose who's watching her eggs?

The current shareholders have agreed to give themselves an important dividend (€45M+) so most of the money LH pays, will go straight into the pockets of SN Airholding actually and NOT be of any use to the airline...

[HighInTheSky]

Typical... And then they are trying to milk every penny out of us, while they put 45M+ in their pockets...

Anyway, thanks Tolipanebas!

[Conti764]

With the 65 milion Euro they can already take some action, no? Or will they just sit on the money like a Swiss banker or mother goose who's watching her eggs?

The current shareholders have agreed to give themselves an important dividend (€45M+) so most of the money LH pays, will go straight into the pockets of SN Airholding actually and NOT be of any use to the airline...

I think it will be a little easier for the entire company to breath, with backup of LH. I guess we will soon se a return to more full service operations (nightstops,...) and a better streamlined Euro network in sight of their AFR operations.

Given the current crisis I don't think SN will get a lot of new longhaul equipment soon. Maybe one or two second hand 333's to expand operations into AFR. To see a full revise of the airline we will have to wait 'till the economy gets a little brighter again.

[NCB]

Congratulations to SN staff!
It looks like you are facing better days ahead, keep up the good job.
LH is a caring employer, its shareholders appreciate their staff and have money for further development.

A congratulation to Brussels Airport as well, LH will certainly bring growth along in the longhaul segment.
SN will become a key customer and BRU the doors to Africa.
I also hope that STAR will bring alot of Asian carriers to BRU including SQ, NH (prospects are very good for direct link to/from HND with 787), TG and Asiana (as soon as they get their A350's).

Could it be that crew could fall under the German system for taxes/social charges?
They are slightly lower in Germany (though still high) but pensions are quite a bit more interesting.
Even better if SN crew could fall under the Swiss flag, but I don't know if that's possible.

[Shanti]

Will the name be Lufthansa Belgium or still Brussels airlines?

[Bralo20]

Will the name be Lufthansa Belgium or still Brussels airlines?

SABENA...


I wish

[Buzz]

With the 65 milion Euro they can already take some action, no? Or will they just sit on the money like a Swiss banker or mother goose who's watching her eggs?

The current shareholders have agreed to give themselves an important dividend (€45M+) so most of the money LH pays, will go straight into the pockets of SN Airholding actually and NOT be of any use to the airline...

Why would any of the money go to BruAir? Wouldin't the money go directly to the old shareholders, to buy the shares from them?

[HighInTheSky]

Will the name be Lufthansa Belgium or still Brussels airlines?

I don't think the name will change anytime soon. As said before, Brussels Airlines will maintain it's own caracter...

[Air Key West]

I expect the money to be paid by LH to acquire b.air will go to the shareholders (SN Air Holding ?). There is some logic to it, since these shareholders invested a large some of money (EUR 200 million ?) to set up
SN Brussels Airlines, and they want, at least, to get back the money they invested. I don't think we can blame them for that.

As to the name, we have had that discussion before. Apparently, the deal implies that the current name (Brussels Airlines) will be kept. But see what is happening to VLM. When LH totally owns SN, they can probably do what seems best to them. I don't think Sabena will ever come back (although I wouldn't mind "Sabena by Lufthansa", but I think we can forget such an option). To me Lufthansa Belgium (on the model of Lufthansa Italia seems unlikely, too ; the Germans are clever enough and know the political situation in the country ; not everybody in and outside the country likes Belgium ; and will the country still exists in a few years from now, see what happened with Czechoslovakia). An other alternative I have already mentioned, a compromise, would be "Lufthansa Brussels". These are only guessing games. We will only know in 2011 when LH takes full control, and if a name change is considered, it will probably only be when the fleet is newed.

[summersso]

Why do people think they would change the name? They've not changed the name of Swiss, and I doubt they'll change Austrian Airlines to anything else. They established Lufthansa Italia from scratch.

I think, believe it or not, that the Lufthansa Group are quite comfortable operating different airlines with different names. I expect they'll focus on improving quality, efficiency, cost-savings, eventually fleet renewal etc, thereby enhancing SN's reputation rather than wasting precious money (especially during an economic crisis) on re-branding a product that frankly sounds fine...

[JOVAN]

Why do people think they would change the name? They've not changed the name of Swiss, and I doubt they'll change Austrian Airlines to anything else. They established Lufthansa Italia from scratch.

I think, believe it or not, that the Lufthansa Group are quite comfortable operating different airlines with different names. I expect they'll focus on improving quality, efficiency, cost-savings, eventually fleet renewal etc, thereby enhancing SN's reputation rather than wasting precious money (especially during an economic crisis) on re-branding a product that frankly sounds fine...

Most probably this scenario will take place. German no-nonsense attitude and realistic management:
the best thing that could happen to SN !!!

[NCB]

I agree with you guys that SN is a nice brand and all that.
Another part of my heart says though that SN's future succes depends on the brand name.
Brussels Airlines is a nice name for a regional subsidiary... but I'd rather see something more "international" in the name for better international recognition. LH Belgium is an option, I do see other, better options as well.

I'd love to see something in the lines of Belgian International Airways/Belgium World Airways.
Germans don't care much about the little community issues Belgium is seeing, Belgians can all be proud of a common airline. The Belgian market alone is too small to develop a succesful airline, but Belgium has a key position to attract passengers from France, Luxemburg, Netherlands and very importantly,to and from Africa.

[tolipanebas]

The link to the original news source is now available, so I thought it might be interesting to add it here:

http://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen ... en;2361662

Common sense has prevailed, so it seems as the EU has apparently backtracked from their idea of making LH/SN come up with competitors themselves, and will just settle for them offering some of their slots between Belgium and Germany to anybody willing to take them, even if nobody is going to pick them up for the time being.