Latest news with #French-Dutch
Time of India
04-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
AF-KLM looking to take controlling stake in SAS airline, Infra News, ET Infra
Advt The Air France-KLM airline group on Friday said that it "will initiate proceedings" to acquire a majority stake in Scandinavian airline SAS, of which it is already a major shareholder."Air France-KLM intends to increase its stake in SAS's share capital, from 19.9 percent currently to 60.5 per cent, via a full acquisition of the stakes held by Castlelake and Lind Invest," the French-Dutch group France-KLM acquired its initial stake in the summer of 2024 after the Scandinavian airline had been weakened by the Covid epidemic. The airlines began some code sharing and joint marketing, including bringing SAS into their SkyTeam alliance Air France-KLM has never hidden its intention to increase its stake in SAS."This contemplated transaction reflects the successful turnaround of SAS and the positive results generated by the commercial cooperation initiated in 2024," Air France-KLM said, adding that it intends to close the operation by the second half of 2026 if it can overcome regulatory said that the value of the contemplated investment would be determined at closing, based on SAS's latest financial France-KLM's initial 19.9 percent investment in SAS was valued at $144.5 case of success, Air France-KLM said that SAS would become a subsidiary of the group, which would allow them to "fully unlock their synergy potential via a comprehensive integration in all areas of business."Air France-KLM would hold the majority of the seats on SAS's had revenue of 4.1 billion euros ($4.8 billion) in 2024, carrying some 25 million France-KLM, meanwhile, generated revenue of 31.5 billion euros and carried some 98 million passengers.
Reuters
06-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Air France-KLM ready to meet Portuguese government's conditions for TAP privatisation
March 6 (Reuters) - Air France-KLM ( opens new tab has had positive discussions with the Portuguese government about its possible participation in a privatisation of flag carrier TAP, and would agree to preserve its brand, network, and local jobs, Air France-KLM's CEO Ben Smith said on Thursday. Air-France KLM will go ahead with the project if the timing and conditions are right, Smith added at a results press conference. The Franco-Dutch group, Lufthansa ( opens new tab and British Airways owner IAG (ICAG.L), opens new tab have shown interest in TAP's privatisation, which the Portuguese government has said it wants to carry out this year. "The discussions that took place last week were very positive from a political point of view. There is a marked interest in this partnership to be put in place with the public announcements that have been made by (French) President (Emmanuel) Macron along these lines," Smith said. The timing of the privatisation depends on the Portuguese government, Smith said, adding that Air France-KLM is ready to meet requirements on the preservation of TAP's brand and network, as well as the safeguard of local skilled jobs. The Franco-Dutch airline was invited to join the transatlantic joint venture between United Airlines and Lufthansa, and aims to form a partnership with TAP rather than a full merger, to avoid the "inquisitorial eye" of the European Commission, Smith said. The current stance of the Commission on merger deals weighs on European airlines' competitiveness, Smith said, adding that the French-Dutch group has not spoken with the EU's executive body about TAP Portugal. European regulators have said they are concerned that major takeovers will lead to higher air fares for consumers. Make sense of the latest ESG trends affecting companies and governments with the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter. Sign up here.
