The German airline said Thursday its deal to pay $305 million for a 19% stake in JetBlue was purely financially motivated. JetBlue, stung by high oil prices and increasing competition, had seen its shares drop more than 60% off of their 52-week high prior to the announcement. That stock price, coupled with the U.S. dollar’s recent weakness against the euro, gave Lufthansa an opportunity to buy into the large U.S. aviation market on the cheap.
But with airline investors hungry for consolidation and many executives talking up dealmaking in recent months, it comes as little surprise that many reacted Thursday as if this transaction was a precursor to bigger deals on the horizon. Some went as far as to suggest that the Lufthansa investment was a sign that a long-discussed merger between Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Airlines Inc. could be next.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. analyst Jamie Baker in a report late Thursday discounted the consolidation talk stemming from the investment, calling JetBlue too small to be an adequate partner for Lufthansa in the event U.S. consolidation causes the German airline to lose long-time ally United. Baker wrote that Lufthansa’s investment “is of little industry consequence,” though he admitted it likely to cause “misplaced speculation regarding M&A” in the near-term.
“This deal is about money — JetBlue needs it, Lufthansa has it,” Baker wrote. “We're confident investors and analysts can come up with additional conspiracy theories, but we view today's announced transaction simply as a liquidity event — nothing more.” — Lou Whiteman
See TheDeal.com story on Lufthansa's investment in JetBlue
See Lufthansa's press release
See Dealscape post on JetBlue-fueled M&A rumors
See TheDeal.com story on talk of a United-Delta merger
A leading Wall Street analyst late Thursday delivered a clear message to those airline investors who believe that Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s 
