Frankfurt/Main, December 6, 2006 — Shearman & Sterling represented Merrill Lynch International and Bank Austria Creditanstalt in connection with the capital increase of Austrian Airlines Österreichische Luftverkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft.  The rights offering comprised 51,680,000 new ordinary bearer shares with no par value, which were sold at an offer price of €7.10 per share.  The new shares of Austrian Airlines, for which subscription rights were not exercised in the rights offering, were publicly offered in Austria and placed with institutional investors in other European countries.  Trading in the new shares on the Vienna Stock Exchange commenced on December 5.  The transaction had an offer volume of approximately €370 million.