ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish Airlines said on Tuesday that its offer for the acquisition of a minority stake in Spanish airline Air Europa has been accepted.
The Turkish flag carrier disclosed in June that it was holding non-binding talks over a potential Air Europa investment, and it announced earlier this month that it was in the process of preparing a binding offer.
In a statement to the Public Disclosure Platform late on Tuesday, Turkish Airlines said Air Europa accepted the offer and the process has now moved to the preparation of transaction documentation and the commencement of official procedures related to closing.
The transaction involved an investment of 300 million euros ($349.38 million), it said, adding that the vast majority of the investment would be in the form of a capital increase.
The exact percentage of the minority stake that Turkish Airlines will acquire would be determined following technical and financial adjustments at the closing stage, it also said.
“The process is expected to be completed within approximately 6 to 12 months subject to obtaining the necessary permits and approvals from the relevant regulatory authorities,” Turkish Airlines said.
A Turkish Airlines executive earlier said the main reason for the interest in the Spanish carrier was that its flight network complements that of Turkish Airlines, with a strong presence in Latin America and the Iberian peninsula.
($1 = 0.8587 euros)
(Reporting by Ceyda Caglayan, Writing by Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Leslie Adler and Alistair Bell)
