President greenlights reprivatisation of flag carrier TAP
In a statement, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa explains that he gave the green light to the law after receiving clarification from the government on the issue.
The Portuguese president has enacted the law on the reprivatisation of the country’s flag carrier airline, TAP.
In a statement published on Thursday evening on the presidency’s website, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa explains that he gave the green light to the law after receiving clarification from the government on the issue.
In October 2023, the country’s president vetoed the document drawn up by former Socialist prime minister, António Costa’s government to start the privatisation of TAP.
At the time, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa decided to return the decree, approved by the Cabinet on 28 September of that year, on the grounds that it “raised multiple doubts and reservations in light of the desired maximum transparency of the process”.
Following the promulgation of the decree-law by the country’s president and the approval of the specifications, there will be a 60-day pre-qualification phase for interested parties.
According to the plan, the State will initially sell up to 49.9% of the company’s capital, of which 5% will be reserved for employees, as required by the Privatisation Law. If this tranche is not fully subscribed, the buyer will have the right of first refusal on the remainder.
The reprivatisation process was formally initiated on 10 July with the approval of the decree-law establishing the terms of the operation. This will be followed by the approval of the specifications defining the technical, legal and administrative criteria for the sale.
In addition to TAP, the process includes assets such as the Portugália airline, the company’s health unit, Cateringpor (51% owned by TAP) and SPdH, formerly Groundforce. The inclusion of the real estate assets of the so-called “TAP stronghold” adjacent to Lisbon airport remains to be decided, with their integration being considered as part of the future “Parque Cidades do Tejo” project.
The government estimates that the four stages of the operation will be completed within a year, although the timetable is subject to regulatory approvals. Parpública, the state business manager, will be responsible for analysing the bids and preparing the technical report to be submitted to the Cabinet.
Among the European groups that have already expressed interest in the process are Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and the International Airlines Group (IAG), which controls Iberia and British Airways.
