Turkish Airlines to expand flights network with minority acquisition of Spanish carrier

Türkiye’s national flag carrier, Turkish Airlines (THY), announced this week that Spanish airline Air Europa has accepted its proposal to acquire a minority stake.

In a statement to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) on August 19, Turkish Airlines confirmed that Air Europa had agreed to the offer. As the Daily Sabah publication reports, this moves the process into the stage of preparing transaction documents and initiating official closing procedures.

The deal represents an investment of €300 million, with most of the funding allocated as a capital increase, the carrier noted. THY had previously disclosed in June that it was engaged in non-binding discussions over a possible investment in Air Europa.

Although the exact size of the minority stake will be finalized after technical and financial adjustments at closing, early media reports suggest the figure could be around 26%.

“The process is expected to be completed within approximately six to 12 months subject to obtaining the necessary permits and approvals from the relevant regulatory authorities,” Turkish Airlines stated.

This development follows two weeks after rival bidders Lufthansa and Air France-KLM both exited negotiations to acquire a share in the Spanish airline citing "difficult negotiations."

According to the article, an unnamed THY executive explained that the primary motivation behind the deal is Air Europa’s complementary network, which offers strong connectivity in Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula.

The airline submitted its binding offer to Globalia, the Spanish tourism group that holds an 80% stake in Air Europa, earlier this week. The remaining 20% is owned by British Airways’ parent company, IAG.

By Nazrin Sadigova