Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA rose as much as 12 percent after Deutsche Lufthansa AG Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr said his company was in takeover discussions with the Scandinavian discount specialist.
Lufthansa has been in contact with Norwegian and whether an agreement is reached will depend on the price on offer and the strategic value the purchase would add for the German carrier, Spohr said in an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung. A company spokesman confirmed his comments to the newspaper.
Shares of Norwegian Air were trading 11 percent higher at 275.40 kroner as of 9:03 a.m. in Oslo, valuing the airline at 12 billion kroner ($1.47 billion).
Sphor’s comments appear to revive the possibility of a deal for Norwegian after IAG CEO Willie Walsh said on May 18 that the Nordic carrier wasn’t a must-have target and that no developments were likely anytime soon. The stock fell 10 percent following his comments.
Norwegian, based in Fornebu, outside Oslo, said in April that it had other suitors beyond IAG, without identifying any.