The outcome for Lufthansa‘s bid for Brussels Airlines has been put off by the European Commission till the end of this month, rather than the originally planned January 12.

The EC said the delay was so its officials could further examine possible anti-competitive aspects of the proposed acquisition.The German carrier wants to buy a 45% stake in Brussels Airlines for €65m with an option to buy the remaining 55% by 2011.
Lufthansa wants to buy extend its network in Africa to where Brussels Airlines has several routes.
However there have been objections that because Brussels is home to both the EC and NATO, there could be an anti-competitive market created if the German aviation giant took over the local carrier.
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