TAP makes official the departure of Neeleman and Antonoaldo

The dismissal of David Neeleman, Antonoaldo Neves and Humberto Pedrosa from TAP’s management is made official on Tuesday by the airline’s shareholders. Miguel Frasquilho, Chairman of the Board of Directors, considers this to be just another step in the changes the company is undergoing.

“It’s the end of [Neeleman’s] exit process from the shareholder structure,” says Frasquilho to ECO. “The deal has already been closed and this was the step that was missing,” he points out about the agreement reached between the government and TAP’s private shareholders. As part of the state aid, the government paid 55 million euros to hold 72.5% of TAP’s capital.

The 22.5% stake that belonged to the Atlantic Gateway consortium – through which the owner of Azul had a stake in TAP together with businessman Humberto Pedrosa – is now held directly by the Portuguese, who also owns the Barraqueiro group. Besides Neeleman, the departure of the former CEO Antonoaldo Neves was also one of the government’s conditions. In the case of Humberto Pedrosa, the shareholder remained in the company but leaves the Board of Directors to avoid possible conflicts of interest.

The shareholders will deliberate this Tuesday, starting at 11 am, on the dismissal of the three as the company’s administrators. This is the first item of the general meeting. Next, they will vote on items related to TAP’s recovery process, such as the amendment of the Statutes and the extinction of special categories of shares.