EU limits review of Lufthansa's Air Berlin asset purchase

[BERLIN] The European Commission said on Wednesday that Lufthansa had decided to exclude Niki from the assets of Air Berlin it planned to buy and would limit its antitrust review to the German carrier's proposed acquisition of LGW.

Lufthansa said it had abandoned its plan to buy Niki after being told by the Commission that it would not allow the deal. However, the Commission said in a statement that its investigation was ongoing and no decision had been taken.

The Commission said it would limit its review to Lufthansa's proposed purchase of a different Air Berlin subsidiary, LGW.

"We have to make sure that mergers do not make consumers worse off. It was clear from the start that Lufthansa and Air Berlin overlap on a very significant number of routes, with clear risks to Austrian, Germans and Swiss consumers and to effective competition," the Commission said.

REUTERS