Late German Billionaire’s Heirs Unwind the Patriarch’s Last Deal

One of Germany’s wealthiest families is selling down the last major investment of Heinz Hermann Thiele, three months after the billionaire patriarch’s death.

The Thiele family’s KB Holding GmbH sold more than half its stake in Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe’s biggest airline, disposing of 33 million shares at a 9.80 euros each. While that’s a 9.8% discount to the stock’s closing price the previous day, the heirs likely broke even on the transaction given the original purchase price.

The retreat comes almost exactly a year since Thiele’s multibillion euro bet on the carrier fizzled as the German government ...