Ryanair expands in Germany, Austria with Laudamotion...
BERLIN, March 20 (Reuters) - Ryanair plans to buy a stake in new Austrian leisure carrier Laudamotion, helping Niki Lauda to get the airline up and running and giving Ryanair a bigger foothold in Germany and Austria.
Ryanair has agreed to buy an initial 24.9 percent stake in Laudamotion, formed out of the insolvent Niki carrier that was part of Air Berlin, and plans for that to rise to 75 percent "as soon as possible", subject to EU approval.
The Irish low cost carrier will invest under 50 million euros ($61.7 million) in the purchase, though will also provide an additional 50 million euros in funding for start-up and operating costs in the first year. ($1 = 0.8102 euros) (Reporting by Victoria Bryan Editing by Keith Weir)