Portugal picks Lufthansa to buy 44.9% of TAP for €1.2 billion

LISBON, Oct 14 (Reuters) — Portugal's government on Wednesday picked Lufthansa to acquire a 44.9% stake in TAP Air Portugal for €1.2 billion ($1.34 billion), making the German airline the strategic partner of one of Europe's last unaligned flag carriers, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro told a news briefing. Lufthansa, which already owns Austrian Airlines, ITA Airways and SWISS, beat rival Air France-KLM after both airlines submitted improved final bids in late September. Montenegro said the winning bid exceeded Air France-KLM's offer by 16%. ($1 = 0.8932 euros) (Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Andrei Khalip) ((mailto:sergio.goncalves@thomsonreuters.com; +351213509204; Reuters Messaging: rm://sergio.goncalves.reuters.com@reuters.net/)