Lufthansa Condor deal
Condor operates flights to the Mediterranean, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and the Caribbean. Credit: Gerard van der Schaaf.

Lufthansa has reportedly made a non-binding offer to purchase German airline Condor from British travel group Thomas Cook.

The travel group had set 7 May as the deadline for companies to submit bids for the takeover of Condor.

In February, Thomas Cook put its airlines business up for sale due to profit warnings.

Lufthansa’s bid could also include an option to acquire the remaining airlines of Thomas Cook, including British, Scandinavian and Spanish operations. The value of the bid has not been disclosed.

“We decided yesterday in the meeting of the management board to bid for all of Condor with the option to be able to extend this bid to all Thomas Cook airlines.”

The cash proceeds from the sale of the airlines business will be used by Thomas Cook to enhance the company’s hotels business.

Speaking on the sidelines of Lufthansa’s annual general meeting in Bonn, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr was quoted by Reuters as saying: “We decided yesterday in the meeting of the management board to bid for all of Condor with the option to be able to extend this bid to all Thomas Cook airlines.”

Condor was part of Lufthansa in the 1990s. The German group sold its remaining 25% interest in the airline to Thomas Cook in 2009.

Based near Frankfurt, Condor flies to more than 75 destinations in the Mediterranean, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and the Caribbean.

The names of other bidders have not been revealed. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Indigo Partners and Lufthansa were among the likely companies to bid for the airline business.

Meanwhile, Lufthansa reiterated its stand that it would be interested to buy a stake in Italian flagship carrier Alitalia only if the Italian Government does not seek co-ownership.