New step forward in the purchase of Air Europa by Iberia.
IAG, the group that owns the latter, has converted the 100 million loan it granted to Globalia, owner of Air Europa, into a 20% stake in the airline's capital, so that it becomes its second shareholder, according to reported IAG to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).
Last March IAG announced the granting of this loan to Globalia, which could be exchanged for 20% of the capital and also
allowed it to have a
one-year period of exclusivity to be able to continue with the talks for the purchase of Air Europa.
This loan also
gave IAG the right to match any third-party offer over the next three years
and the right to exit should Globalia decide to sell Air Europa at any time.
The purchase agreement was announced in 2019 but was complicated by the pandemic.
In the last year the negotiations have become entrenched, in part due to the demands of the EU's Directorate General for Competition, which asked Iberia to cede some routes, and also due to the complicated situation of Air Europa, which received a public bailout of 475 million.
IAG announced the granting of this loan at a time when negotiations between Globalia and IAG were stalled, as
Air Europa was already negotiating with other airlines
, specifically with Air France.
The loan had to receive the approval of the banks that facilitated the ICO loan to Air Europa during the pandemic and the State Company for Industrial Participations (SEPI), which granted it a rescue of 475 million euros.
Now IAG has exercised its right to exchange the loan for that 20% of the capital.
Iberia has already disbursed 175 million euros just to negotiate with Globalia,
the 100 of the aforementioned loan and another 75 that it had to pay in December, when they broke the first agreement, as stated in one of the clauses.
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