Tap Air Portugal’s last straight
Finance Minister Fernando Medina announced last Thursday that the Portuguese government has commissioned the public that owns Parapublica to choose two independent evaluators to evaluate TAP Airlines before its privatization, which could begin next July.
” These two independent assessments are mandatory before starting a privatization. We hope that we will be able to agree to privatization before the summer, around JulyHe made it clear during a press conference held at the end of the Portuguese cabinet meeting.
Moreover, he said that the government is seeking to preserve The intrinsic value of TAP, as a company that generates value from its center of operations in LisbonPointing out that the company recorded profits in 2022 earlier than expected in its restructuring plan.
Portugal completed the bailout plan for the national carrier last December after the recent injection of 980 million euros to recapitalize the company. This is the last installment of the state check provided for in the restructuring plan authorized by the European Union in 2021, the total allocation of which is 3,200 million euros.
Lufthansa and KLM Air France in the race
In principle, the main candidates for the acquisition of the Portuguese airline are the European companies Lufthansa and Air France-KLM, which in recent months have been fighting over the acquisition of the heir to the Italian airline ITA.
In this sense, the CEO of Air France-KLM, Benjamin Smith, recently confirmed that ” The TAP network in Brazil seems very strong to us“.
Separately, IAG CEO Luis Gallego indicated in February that the company was focused on acquiring 100% of Air Europa, a deal still subject to competition approval, but did not rule out other opportunities that could boost the Barajas “hub”, its own brands and airlines.
