The logistics company is gradually taking on the role of an anchor shareholder.
(Photo: Carsten Dammann for Handelsblatt)
Frankfurt Logistics entrepreneur Klaus-Michael Kühne recently declared that he did not want to increase his shareholding in Lufthansa any further. Now the turnaround follows: “I recently had a constructive conversation with the chairmen of the supervisory board and executive board and have therefore joined the intention of acquiring further Lufthansa shares when opportunities arise,” said the 85-year-old billionaire surprisingly on Tuesday evening. This is good news for Lufthansa shareholders, and for a number of reasons.
Kühne owns 15.01 percent of Lufthansa. He is already the largest shareholder in Europe’s largest airline group – even ahead of the German state, which recently held a little less than ten percent in Lufthansa through the Currency Stabilization Fund (WSF). The prospect of further share purchases should stabilize the group’s price. The Lufthansa share then rose by almost one percent on Wednesday morning.
Kühne does not say where he wants to get the papers from. A purchase via the stock exchange is conceivable, or the WSF sells shares to him. The fund announced a few weeks ago that it intends to sell its remaining shares by October 2023 at the latest.
Analyst Alexander Irving from Bernstein Research pointed out a few days ago that Lufthansa shares could go up if fuel prices fell – or if the federal government found a buyer for its stake.
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In addition, Kühne is gradually taking on the role of an anchor shareholder. Companies that have one are usually considered stable and secure. An investor who puts a lot of money into a company has an interest in its long-term success. This is particularly true in the case of Kühne.
Lufthansa’s air freight business is booming
Kühne belongs to the Swiss forwarding company Kühne+Nagel, he is also the main shareholder of the shipping company Hapag-Lloyd. Kuehne+Nagel is one of the largest customers of the Lufthansa subsidiary LH Cargo. Because of the distortions in the supply chains, the various logistics providers have been moving together for some time. Kühne’s commitment to Lufthansa fits seamlessly into this trend.
The French shipping giant CMA CGM recently acquired a stake in the airline Air France-KLM. The shipping company MSC from Geneva wanted to join the Alitalia successor company Ita Airways together with Lufthansa. The plan only failed because politicians in Italy now want to have a much greater say. The Danish shipping company Maersk has announced that it intends to launch its own air freight service under the name “Maersk Air Cargo”.
Bold takeover intentions are good news for other Lufthansa shareholders.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
With all his experience at Lufthansa, Kühne will probably ensure that the group can get involved in the restructuring of the logistics market. That, too, could turn out to be good for the rest of the shareholders. Because air freight is booming. And at the moment, hardly any experts are assuming that the strong demand will end soon. The problems in the supply chains will continue.
In order to implement his ideas, Kühne should soon demand a seat on the supervisory board. However, his current 15 percent stake already puts him in a position of power. The attendance at general meetings of “Hansa” was recently only around 30 percent.
Kühne does not need a nominal blocking minority of more than 20 percent to exert influence. The Federal Cartel Office also stated this when it gave the go-ahead for the increase from around ten to 15 percent. “Due to a consistently low attendance at the annual general meeting for years, Kuehne is moving into the position of a minority shareholder with a de facto blocking minority,” the authority wrote in the statement.
More: Kuehne+Nagel benefits from the logistics chaos – boss Trefzger says goodbye with a jump in profits