The deal had been brewing for some time. It was still to be decided who would conclude the sale with the Lufthansa Group. At the end of 2021, the AirPlus CEO Oliver Wagner told Voyages d'Affaires : " I am certain and fully confident that Carsten Spohr and the entire Lufthansa management will examine the options carefully and find the best possible solution. And Oliver Wagner assures us: For AirPlus, it is important tohaving a supportive landlord and it always has been. It is, and I'm sure always will be, regardless of who owns it. ".
Oliver Wagner's wishes have been fulfilled, according to the official announcement on 21 June. For the management of Lufthansa, AirPlus should not only benefit from a solid partner, but also from a more similar business area than the airline group. " We are delighted to have found a A solid new owner for AirPlusfrom financial sector "says Remco Steenbergen, CFO of the Lufthansa Group. He continued: " SEB Kort brings a wealth of experience in the field of payments and has the full support of AirPlus management. "and even believes thatAirPlus " will be in a better position to realise its potential than in the Lufthansa Group ".
For its part, the management of the SEB Group also asserts that it has identified " a convincing strategic fit" as Johan Torgeby, Chairman and CEO of the Swedish group, explains: " We have been following AirPlus for many years" .
Entrusting the future of AirPlus to a specialist in the field was therefore one of the motivations of the German group. But it was also, and above all, seeking to refocus on its core business: air travel. L'acquisition of ITA is part of this logic, as Remco Steenbergen reminds us: " Following the two signings - the sale of the LSG Group in April and the recent agreement on a stake in ITA - the sale of AirPlus is the next major step in the Lufthansa Group's strategy to focus on its core activities in the future. ". It remains to be seen how far Lufthansa intends to "refocus", given that the German group has, for example, invested in the TripActions platform, later renamed Navan. Even if the evolution of the business travel landscape seems likely to preserve the strategic nature of the latter as a technology provider for Lufthansa...
