By Foo Yun Chee and Ilona Wissenbach
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT (Reuters) -German airline Lufthansa has offered remedies to address EU competition concerns about its bid to buy a minority stake in Italian state-owned ITA Airways, EU antitrust regulators said on Tuesday.
“The (European) Commission will now assess the submitted commitments,” a spokesperson for the EU executive said in an email, without providing details of the remedies.
Lufthansa is ready to cede slots at Milan-Linate Airport where there are overlaps on roughly half a dozen European routes to Lufthansa hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Vienna, sources have previously told Reuters.
Remedies offered during the EU preliminary review of deals must be comprehensive and effective and able to eliminate the competition concerns entirely, as well as capable of being implemented effectively within a short period of time.
The EU competition enforcer, which set a Jan. 29 deadline for its decision, may seek feedback from rivals and users before deciding whether to accept the remedies, demand more or open a four-month long investigation.
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Lufthansa wants to acquire a 41% stake in ITA for 325 million euros ($355.7 million) as part of a capital increase.
($1 = 0.9137 euros)
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)