Lufthansa in talks to take remaining 50.1% stake in TAP in future, CFO says

Oct 15 (Reuters) - Separate talks are being held about Lufthansa potentially taking the remaining 50.1% majority stake in Portugal's flag carrier TAP from the government in the future, Lufthansa's finance chief said on Thursday.

In this process, the Portuguese government could become a Lufthansa shareholder with a stake of up to 5%, CFO Till Streichert said.

• Portugal's government on Wednesday picked Lufthansa to buy a stake of up to 49.9% in TAP Air Portugal for €1.2 billion ($1.35 billion) over rival Air France-KLM

• The deal, years in the making and repeatedly delayed, is the next step in the consolidation of Europe's airline industry

• Streichert said he expects the deal to be closed in the first half of 2028 and to yield €450 million in synergies.

• Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr told journalists the deal was "a perfect fit" for the group

• Lufthansa already owns Austrian Airlines, ITA Airways and SWISS among other carriers

• He said it would be an easier transaction for the European Union to approve than Italy's ITA, whose turnaround is still ongoing, since there is less overlapping in business with Lufthansa($1 = 0.8913 euros)

(Reporting by Klaus Lauer,Writing by Linda Pasquini, editing by Kirsti Knolle)