IAG continues working on buying Air Europa to merge it with Iberia, but has delayed the presentation of its proposal to transfer air routes, known as “remedies”. The holding company led by Luis Gallego has made public that it has transferred to the European Commission the “decision to formally present its conditions plan during phase 2.” In this way, the operation will be postponed until the third or fourth quarter of 2024, according to the company.
On December 11, the IAG group notified Brussels of the purchase of the 80% of Air Europa’s capital that it was missing, an operation estimated at 400 million. From that moment on, the so-called phase I, the fast track, began. A period of 35 maximum working days (25 and an extension of 10) was opened that ended this Wednesday in which the European Commission has requested information from the companies and has also been able to request documents from competitors and other actors in the airline industry.
IAG’s decision to submit its proposed remedies during Phase II, which lasts between 90 and 110 business days depending on time extensions known as “stop the clock”, which can be requested the parties or the Commission, puts the operation on a slower track. Therefore, at this time, an in-depth investigation is being opened by the community authorities into the acquisition and subsequent merger operation.
“Since we announced the agreement with Air Europa we have been working closely with the European Commission,” explains IAG CEO Luis Gallego. “In our conversations, we have opted, from the beginning, to present an ambitious and broad proposal of conditions,” he adds. In effect, the company designs a proposal for the transfer of routes in which it is also taking into account the considerations that the Brussels Competition authorities have exposed in public to guarantee community market laws.
Gallego assures that, with the decision that the Air Europa purchase operation enters phase II, IAG hopes “that the Commission can evaluate the viability and relevance of our proposal with the necessary time.”
Iberia’s parent company adds that, while designing its “remedies” proposal, it continues to “maintain conversations with potential successful bidders to ensure that they meet the requirements of the European Commission.”
Although it is inevitable that the acquisition of Air Europa will be closed before the third quarter of the year, Gallego explains that “at IAG we continue working to close this operation throughout this year, as soon as possible, with the aim of transferring the benefits of this operation to consumers and the Spanish economy, and increase the competitiveness of Madrid with respect to other European hubs.”
