IAG, the group that owns Iberia, and Globalia, of Air Europa, will

explore a new purchase agreement before the end of January 2022

, after having mutually terminated the one they signed more than two years ago for the former to acquire the latter, as notified today to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

Thus, both companies have little more than a month to reset and

start negotiating from scratch

, in a totally different context marked by Covid.

Iberia will have to compensate the Hidalgo family airline with 75 million for this, 40 included in the initial agreement in case the airline backs down, plus another 35 million "

as a sign of commitment to reach an agreement

in the second phase. of the negotiation and to also eliminate any pending claim related to the previous acquisition agreement, "Iberia said in a statement.

The operation, which was announced more than two years ago, has been complicated by the pandemic, since the Covid forced the Government to rescue Air Europa to avoid its bankruptcy and, in addition, the Competition authorities demanded from IAG important assignments of routes that they have made, in the current context, the operation less profitable than at the beginning.

The State, as a shareholder

If the parties do not reach an agreement, they

all have a lot to lose,

but especially Air Europa, which is sustained thanks to public aid. Iberia, on the other hand, risks that another company will buy Air Europa (Air France showed interest in its day) and loses the option of turning Barajas airport into a large hub, a center for international connections.

Air Europa received 475 million euros from the aid fund for strategic companies managed by Sepi, plus an ICO loan. One of the options that is

gaining

more force is

for the State to exchange part of this debt

for shares, so that it would enter the capital of Air Europa. In this case, IAG would have only one part, but this would make Brussels also relax its demands. After a while, the state would sell its share to IAG, according to industry sources.

"

It is very disappointing that we had to terminate the current agreement to acquire Air Europa

but the decision makes sense due to market conditions, the deep crisis arising from Covid and considering our desire to maintain a disciplined approach to allocation. of capital, "says Luis Gallego, CEO of IAG, in a statement.

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