Apple to buy German luxury TV maker Loewe?

[iS THAT ME]

Apple to buy German luxury TV maker Loewe?​

Shares in German luxury TV maker Loewe jumped to a 10-month high on Monday on market talk of a potential offer from Apple.

Web blog AppleInsider cited a person familiar with the matter as saying Apple was willing to pay 87.3 million euros ($113 million), or a 48 per cent premium on Loewe's closing price on Friday of 4.5390 euros per share.

A spokesman for Loewe said that management at the moment has no indication or information that Apple wants to participate in Loewe. Apple declined to comment.

Loewe shares were up 30 per cent by 0845 GMT at 5.92 euros. Trading volumes were more than three times its 90-day average.

A German trader said such a deal could make sense. "Look at Loewe's design. That is a big 'yes', I would say."

"The only problem is Loewe makes its TVs in Germany," he added.

Loewe, founded in 1923 in Berlin, offers high-end home entertainment sets and has a market capitalisation of 59.1 million euros, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The company already offers apps for the iPad to remotely operate their home entertainment sets.

Citing a difficult market environment Loewe earlier this month reported first-quarter operating losses of 900,000 euros, compared to a 2.9 million euro loss in the year-ago period.

First-quarter sales jumped 8 per cent to 66.6 million euros. Japan's Sharp holds 28.8 per cent of Loewe's shares, according to Thomson Reuters data. Loewe's management owns 14 per cent of the company and French maker of digital storage devices LaCie has a 11.2 per cent stake.

-ET