The American investment bank Citibank should be chosen by Parpública to provide financial assistance for the privatisation of TAP, according to Diário de Notícias. The operation should only start after the approval of the General State Budget for 2025, which means that it should not take place before January of next year, and will affect a stake of less than 50% of the capital.
Privatisation will only go ahead if the Socialist Party agrees to the sale of a minority stake in TAP. The party’s leader, Pedro Nuno Santos, has already reinforced that the PS does not agree to sell a stake of more than half of the capital. “We have maintained the same position since I was elected. We are against the sale of the majority of the capital, we are not against the entry of private companies into the capital,” the socialist leader told DN on Thursday.
The choice of the financial consultancy firm, the same newspaper says, is related to the need to have the support of an international entity for this business. The fact that it is a North American company also influenced the choice, since none of the main shareholders of TAP is from that country, which avoids possible conflicts of interest.
Legal advisers have not yet been chosen, but it is certain that some of the country’s leading law firms will not be able to participate in the deal on behalf of the State, as they have been working with the consortia that want to invest in TAP. The three potential interested parties in the airline are the German Lufthansa, whose legal adviser is the PLMJ firm, IAG, which has the support of Vieira de Almeida, and Air France, whose legal adviser is not yet known.
The percentage of capital to be sold and the privatisation model have not yet been defined, with the possible options being direct sale or an international public tender.
Source: Observadora
