German airline Deutsche Lufthansa on Saturday denied it had reached a deal with Karstadt Quelle over the sale of its stake in their Thomas Cook tourism joint venture to the German retailer. "There is definitely no agreement," a Lufthansa spokesman said on Saturday.
Der Spiegel magazine reported the finance chiefs of both companies had reached a compromise in which Karstadt would take over all of Thomas Cook, including the firm's Condor holiday carrier.
Karstadt had previously only wanted Thomas Cook without Condor, but Lufthansa did not want its former charter airline back, Der Spiegel said.
Thomas Cook said the topic was a matter for its owners, while KarstadtQuelle declined to comment.
KarstadtQuelle head Thomas Middelhoff has repeatedly said the company wants to buy Lufthansa's 50 percent stake in Thomas Cook, which is Europe's second-biggest travel firm.
Lufthansa's new finance chief, Stephan Gemkow, said on July 27 that the aim was to make Thomas Cook fit for a stock exchange listing but he added that Lufthansa was in talks with Karstadt and he could imagine reaching an agreement with it.
Thomas Cook Chief Executive Thomas Holtrop said in June that he expected clarity on the issue of the firm's ownership this year.
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