Government to advance with SATA airline selloff

The Azores Regional Government has ordered the Azores airline SATA to press ahead with the final negotiations to sell the company.

And things are looking up for the future prospects of a buyer after company manager Carlos Tavares, the former CEO of car manufacturing giant Stellantis, put himself forward as a candidate to buy the airline.

“The Azores regional government’s negotiation strategy has worked and increased the value of the airline”, said the Regional Government in a statement. The regional government wants to sell off up to 85% of Azores Airline – a subsidiary of the SATA Group”

It has approved the procedure for the sale of shares representing at least 51% and at most 85% of the share capital of SATA International/Azores Airlines, as proposed by the SATA Holding board.

During the presentation of the discussions by the Regional Government Council meeting held on March 4, Duarte Freitas said: “According to commercial legislation, when there is less than 10% of the capital of a given entity, rights are lost in terms of the board of directors, and the region wants to keep those rights” (in order to justify the maximum 85% sale).

But this week he said: “The government’s business strategy has worked and the consortium has increased the value of the asset. To better prepare for (the acquisition bid) by the consortium, two other names have been added, one of them is Carlos Tavares, who is perhaps the best Portuguese manager in the world who gives the project credibility and completely adds value to the asset”, said Duarte Freitas, the Regional Secretary of Finances, Planning and Public Administration”, in response to questions from the online news service ECO.