TAP: final bids from Air France-KLM and Lufthansa have been submitted

Air France-KLM and Lufthansa submitted their final bids on Wednesday to buy a 44.9% stake in TAP, closing the bidding phase and leaving the decision to the government.

Air France-KLM and Lufthansa have already submitted their final bids for the privatisation of 44.9% of TAP’s share capital, which are expected to include improvements on the offers submitted on 29 July.

The announcement was made on Wednesday by Parpública. In a statement, the state shareholding manager said it will now draw up a descriptive report on the improvements put forward by the two candidates, "assessing their final overall merit and forwarding it to the members of the Government responsible for the finance and air transport portfolios".

Wednesday was the deadline set by the Government for the airlines competing for TAP. On Monday, the Minister for Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, had said that the final bids from the two contenders would be submitted by Wednesday and that the Government would then have 15 days to take a position on the process.

The final bids set out the financial and strategic terms for taking a stake in the Portuguese airline. They will be assessed on the planned investment, fleet development, commitments in areas such as maintenance and sustainable fuels, and respect for labour obligations.

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