The Portuguese government on Thursday opened the sale of a majority stake in flag carrier TAP, with Deutsche Lufthansa AG quickly expressing interest and other European rivals also expected to be keen.
TAP had to be rescued and renationalised in 2020, which was followed by job cuts and plane sales in order to secure EU approval of a €3.2 billion capital injection for the debt-laden airline.
‘The government adopted today the decree on the privatisation of TAP,’ Finance Minister Fernando Medina said after the Socialist-led government’s weekly cabinet meeting.
The government wants to sell at least 51% of TAP, with at least 5% of shares reserved for employees, he added, without specifying how much the government might raise from the sale.
The airline posted a profit of €23 million for the first half of this year, compared with a loss of €202 million in the period last year.
‘The outlook for 2023 is even better,’ said Infrastructure Minister Joao Galamba.
Germany’s Lufthansa, which took a major stake in Italy’s ITA in May, said in a statement the TAP sale is ‘interesting for us’.
‘Lufthansa Group and TAP would complement each other very well, especially with TAP’s route network to and from South America,’ it added.
Air France KLM SA chief Ben Smith reiterated his interest in July.
TAP flies several routes to North America and Brazil and could also be a good fit for British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, which also owns Spanish airline Iberia.
IAG boss Luis Gallego told Reuters on Wednesday that he is optimistic TAP could be ‘another success story within IAG’.
source: AFP
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