Air France-KLM and Lufthansa on Wednesday submitted binding offers to buy a 44.5% stake in TAP Air Portugal, Parpública, which manages the state's shareholdings, said in a statement quoted by Eco (source in Portuguese).
"As part of the third stage of the process for the reference sale of 44.9% of TAP's share capital, PARPÚBLICA, SGPS, S.A. announces that it has received two binding proposals, submitted by the interested parties invited to do so after the conclusion of the second stage of the said transaction, Air France-KLM S.A. and Deutsche Lufthansa AG," the Parpública statement says.
Parpública now has 30 days to analyse the documentation and submit a report to the Portuguese government, and may request further clarifications from the airlines. In that case, the deadline is suspended until the requested information is provided.
According to Eco, the binding proposals already specify the amount to be paid for the 44.5% stake in the airline, as well as an industrial and strategic plan to guarantee the company's sustainability and future.
Once it has examined Parpública's report, the government may decide to invite one or both of the bidders that submitted binding proposals to present a new final offer.
The deadline for submitting the two binding proposals expired on Tuesday, marking the end of the third phase of TAP's privatisation process.
The process for the partial sale of the national airline, relaunched in 2025 by Luís Montenegro's government, was narrowed down to two bidders after International Airlines Group (IAG), owner of Iberia, pulled out, leaving Air France-KLM and Lufthansa still in the running. The two groups submitted their binding offers on Tuesday.
The decree law approved by the government a year ago provides for the sale of up to 49.9% of TAP to private investors, with the state remaining the majority shareholder.
Of this 49.9%, 5% is reserved for employees, and any unsubscribed stake may also be acquired by the selected investor.
On the privatisation process, the Minister for Infrastructure, Miguel Pinto Luz, has already said he would like it to be concluded next September and has even indicated that the chosen investor could start sharing management of the airline as early as 2026 with the current board, although the actual capital injection is only expected to take place in a year's time, in the summer of 2027.
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