November 13, 2014
Portugal plans to sell its controlling stake in flag carrier TAP to one or more large investors in a relaunch of the partial sale of the indebted airline.
Secretary of state for transport Sergio Monteiro said up to 66 percent of TAP will be sold, with 5 percent reserved for staff.
The government will retain 34 percent and may exercise an option to sell that stake two years after the privatisation.
"The state does not intend to obtain financial gains from this privatisation, it wants to guarantee that TAP is adequately capitalised," Monteiro told a news briefing.
Monteiro added the airline had debts of EUR€1 billion (USD$1.3 billion) and Portugal was banned from injecting fresh capital under EU rules.
Monteiro said there was no timetable yet for the sale.
Economy Minister Antonio Pires de Lima has said there were various potential buyers interested in TAP. Lufthansa and Spanish group Globalia have said they were following developments around the privatisation, while Portuguese entrepreneur Miguel Pais do Amaral has also expressed interest.
In 2012, the government rejected the only valid offer for TAP, made by Latin American tycoon German Efromovich, owner of AviancaTaca, citing his failure to meet financing requirements.
"We are now more optimistic and all the information collected allows us to face this process with redoubled confidence that it will be successful. But we will only know when we receive the formal proposals," Monteiro said.
The privatisation is part of a sale of state assets required as a condition of Portugal's three-year EU/IMF bailout, which ended in May.
Lisbon has raised around EUR€9.4 billion via sell-offs since the start of its bailout in 2011, having overshot its privatisation target during the rescue programme.
(Reuters)
Portugal plans to sell its controlling stake in flag carrier TAP to one or more large investors in a relaunch of the partial sale of the indebted airline.
Secretary of state for transport Sergio Monteiro said up to 66 percent of TAP will be sold, with 5 percent reserved for staff.
The government will retain 34 percent and may exercise an option to sell that stake two years after the privatisation.
"The state does not intend to obtain financial gains from this privatisation, it wants to guarantee that TAP is adequately capitalised," Monteiro told a news briefing.
Monteiro added the airline had debts of EUR€1 billion (USD$1.3 billion) and Portugal was banned from injecting fresh capital under EU rules.
Monteiro said there was no timetable yet for the sale.
Economy Minister Antonio Pires de Lima has said there were various potential buyers interested in TAP. Lufthansa and Spanish group Globalia have said they were following developments around the privatisation, while Portuguese entrepreneur Miguel Pais do Amaral has also expressed interest.
In 2012, the government rejected the only valid offer for TAP, made by Latin American tycoon German Efromovich, owner of AviancaTaca, citing his failure to meet financing requirements.
"We are now more optimistic and all the information collected allows us to face this process with redoubled confidence that it will be successful. But we will only know when we receive the formal proposals," Monteiro said.
The privatisation is part of a sale of state assets required as a condition of Portugal's three-year EU/IMF bailout, which ended in May.
Lisbon has raised around EUR€9.4 billion via sell-offs since the start of its bailout in 2011, having overshot its privatisation target during the rescue programme.
(Reuters)
