Lufthansa Pays Back $1.7 Billion of Germany’s Silent Stake

Deutsche Lufthansa AG paid off a chunk of the German government’s remaining bailout package, eliminating part of its so-called silent participation support with 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) of the money it raised in a rights offering last week.

The 2.16 billion-euro equity raise is now completed and new shares issued, Lufthansa said Monday in a statement. The company plans to repay a remaining 1-billion-euro silent participation to Germany’s Economic Stabilization Fund by year-end.