Representatives of the Lufthansa Group held a meeting with Portuguese ministers regarding the potential purchase of a 19.9% stake in the Portuguese airline, Reuters reports. Although Lufthansa and TAP representatives refused to comment on the claim, it is said that a potential buyout of 19.9% of the stake is under 20%, in which case Lufthansa would need to seek the approval of the European Commission.
The meeting was held in the shadow of the Portuguese government’s desire to privatize the company, which is currently fully state-owned. Currently, the only potential interested parties are IAG (International Airlines Group, otherwise the owner of British Airways, Vueling, Iberia, and Aer Lingus) and the Air France-KLM group, which sources claim is the least likely interested party, considering the recent acquisition of a stake in SAS. However, Lufthansa also acquired a 41% stake in the Italian ITA this summer.
The current Portuguese government, which took office in April, has yet to define a privatization model. The sale of at least 51% of TAP was approved by the previous center-left administration in September 2023 but did not have time to implement it before general elections held earlier this year, according to Reuters.
TAP said in a press release last week that its second-quarter net profit fell 10% to 72.2 million euros as foreign exchange losses offset an increase in operating income. In the event of a positive agreement, this would make Lufthansa the 9th carrier in the group under full or partial ownership (Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Eurowings, Discover Airlines, Lufthansa City Airlines and ITA).
