BERLIN, May 12 (Reuters) - Lufthansa Group

will exercise an option to lift its stake in Italy's ITA Airways

to 90%, tightening its grip on the Rome-based carrier as

industry consolidation accelerates in Europe.

The German group's holding in ITA will rise by 49 percentage

points from 41% through the purchase of a second block of shares

for 325 million euros ($382 million) next month, Lufthansa said

on Tuesday.

It expects the majority acquisition to be completed in the

first quarter of 2027 after European Union and U.S. approval.

Lufthansa said ITA is already firmly integrated as the

group's fifth network airline in many areas, underlining its

strategy to build Rome into a hub for routes to South America

and beyond.

Speaking at the airline's annual general meeting, Lufthansa

CEO Carsten Spohr said the group had delivered "the fastest

airline integration in our history" with ITA.

That had driven a decision to exercise the purchase option

as early as June of this year, he added.

ITA, which is currently majority-owned by the Italian

government, reported its first annual net profit of 209 million

euros in 2025, helped by early cost benefits from its tie-up

with Lufthansa, the carrier said in March.

($1 = 0.8517 euros)

(Writing by Friederike Heine and Kirsti Knolle; Editing by

Linda Pasquini and Ludwig Burger)