TAP Portugal privatisation

Overview:

• The TAP Group, the holder of the Portuguese flag carrier Transportes Aéreos Portugueses (TAP), completed its privatisation as part of the Financial Assistance Programme that Portugal agreed with the ECB, the IMF and the EC in 2011.
• Atlantic Gateway was winning bidder, a consortium made up of the DGN Corporation and HPGB which is part of the Barraqueiro group.
• Atlantic Gateway paid €10 million in cash for 61% stake in TAP, and will invest €338 million into the company.
• The company will also give the airline 53 aircraft, and has guaranteed to keep the hub in Lisbon until 2045. 
• The privatisation process had failed towards the end of 2012 because of a lack of suitable bidders for the group. 

John Crabb - Journalist