Brazilian airline Azul confident TAP will repay 100 million dollar loan, says CEO
"It's very clear that Azul lent money to TAP, I don't think anyone denies that, we gave 100 million dolllars a few years ago to strengthen TAP," said Azul CEO John Rodgerson.
Brazilian airline Azul told Lusa that it believes the debt incurred by TAP in 2016 will be resolved, because “nobody denies” that a loan of more than 90 million euros was made.
“It’s very clear that Azul lent money to TAP, I don’t think anyone denies that, we gave US$100 million [around 97 million euros at the current rate] a few years ago to strengthen TAP,” said the CEO of the Brazilian airline, John Rodgerson, in a telephone interview with Lusa on Tuesday.
The Brazilian company, which hired a law firm in Portugal to negotiate this debt to “make sure everyone is protected”, said it was confident that the process “will be resolved, because no one questions that Azul lent money to TAP”.
At issue is a debt incurred by TAP in 2016, a year after the government approved the sale of 61% of TAP’s share capital to the Gateway consortium, owned by US businessman David Neeleman and Portuguese businessman Humberto Pedrosa – one of the two finalists in the privatisation process for the Portuguese airline, with Germán Efromovich being the unsuccessful candidate.
The Brazilian carrier believes that this issue should be resolved before the new sale of TAP, so as not to “get in the way” of the process, pointed out John Rodgerson, as he has conveyed to those responsible for the Portuguese company in previous conversations.
In a response sent to the Lusa news agency in October, Azul Linhas Aéreas clarified that “with the move towards a possible privatisation of TAP, the emptying of the TAP group company that signed the loan and the emptying of the debt guarantees, Azul has hired a law firm in Portugal to ensure that the guarantees are put into effect or that the debt is repaid in advance”.
The Brazilian airline, founded by David Neeleman, a former TAP shareholder, also emphasised that it is seeking “an understanding to resolve the situation in a friendly and commercial manner, without ruling out the possibility of taking tougher action if there is no agreement with the Portuguese company”.
Azul explained that it had taken out a €90 million loan, together with a further 30 million euros from the Portuguese government, to help TAP’s liquidity, which was experiencing financial difficulties.
According to the Brazilian press, the debt, which already amounts to 1.2 billion reais ( 200 million euros at the current exchange rate) has to be repaid by 2026.