I’ve Heard Everything Now: Lufthansa in Talks to Buy Piece of JetBlue

Jetblue2

And I quote, from the New York Times:

“Lufthansa is in talks to buy a stake of just under 25 percent in JetBlue Airways, the discount airline, people briefed on the matter told DealBook on Thursday.

An announcement could be made as early as Thursday after the markets close.

The interest from Lufthansa, which is based in Germany, is the latest example of foreign investors leveraging the strength of the euro against the dollar. By limiting its stake to 20%, Lufthansa would remain below federal limits on foreign ownership of a domestic airline. Though the investment will be passive, these people told DealBook, it opens up an opportunity for Lufthansa to make a bigger deal down the road, possibly some kind of partnership.”

Excuse me while I shake my head.

Now, unless I’ve missed something, aren’t United Airlines and Lufthansa still the big founding partners of the Star Alliance? Yep, I do believe that is the case.

Can United be happy about this?

Ticker: (Nasdaq:JBLU)

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