German airline Lufthansa has won the contest to buy a major stake in TAP Air Portugal, the Portuguese prime minister said Wednesday, after months of efforts to privatise the state-rescued airline.
Lufthansa beat out Air France-KLM with an offer of 1.025 billion euros ($1.14 billion) for a 44.9 percent stake in TAP, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro told journalists after a cabinet meeting.
TAP, which was renationalised in 2020 to stem heavy losses from the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, is among the few remaining state-owned carriers in Europe.
"After studying the proposals, the government has chosen Lufthansa, whose financial offer was 16 percent higher than the competing bid," Montenegro said.
The state will keep at least 50.1 percent of the airline's shares, while for now employees will own the remaining five percent.
Portugal committed to a deep restructuring of the airline in 2021 in exchange for EU approval of 3.2 billion euros of public aid to keep it afloat.
British Airways parent IAG and Spain's Iberia had also considered bidding to add TAP's network to their own operations, before abandoning the contest.
The airline has around 7,700 employees and a fleet of around 100 Airbus planes.
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