BREAKINGVIEWS — Portuguese airline deal straps in FOMO premium

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.) By Oliver Taslic LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) — Lisbon chose Lufthansa over Air France-KLM in the battle for state-owned TAP. The implied $5 bln enterprise value looks rich compared with peers. But with few big airlines left to buy, and transatlantic markets booming, fear of missing out helps explain the price tag. Full view will be published shortly. Follow @Breakingviews on X Context News Portugal’s government on October 14 picked Deutsche Lufthansa to buy a stake of up to 49.9% in TAP Air Portugal for €1.2 billion. The German airline group beat its rival Air France-KLM. Lufthansa said on October 15 that it expects up to €450 million of synergies from the combination. (Editing by Liam Proud; Production by Streisand Neto) ((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on TASLIC/ mailto:oliver.taslic@thomsonreuters.com)