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Air France in Talks to Buy 20% of Air Europa, El Economista Says - BLOOMBERG
(Bloomberg) -- Air France-KLM is in talks to buy a stake of as much as 20% in Air Europa after the Spanish carrier’s planned takeover by IAG SA was scuppered by regulatory opposition, the El Economista newspaper reported.
The transaction would be worth more than €100 million ($105 million), and wouldn’t require the European Union’s regulatory nod, the newspaper said, without specifying how it got the information. An Air France spokesman declined to comment on a possible stake purchase and said talks with Air Europa on a “commercial cooperation are underway.”
IAG, which owns British Airways and Spain’s Iberia, abandoned its pursuit of Air Europa for the second time earlier this year after European Union officials pushed back on concessions aimed at clearing the deal. Among contentious points, EU watchdogs were skeptical that a pledge from IAG to open up certain short and long-haul routes to rivals would overcome anticompetitive concerns.
The failure of IAG to get the Air Europa deal across the line contrasts with recent efforts at consolidation in the rest of Europe. Deutsche Lufthansa AG is purchasing a stake in Italian carrier ITA Airways, the successor to Alitalia, and Air France acquired a 19.9% stake in Scandinavian carrier SAS AB.
