Talks preparing the sale of 45% of Portuguese airline TAP are “going well but a deal, with German carrier Lufthansa, is not yet closed, revealed television commentator Marques Mendes on Sunday, adding that behind the scenes there is a major storm between TAP management and the government over (TAP’s) plans to pay directors bonuses in a year when the company has posted another set of eye-watering losses (click here).
News that Brazilian airline mogul David Neeleman was keen to sell his shares in TAP (held in the name of Atlantic Gateway with Portuguese transportation billionaire Humberto Pedrosa) came late last year when ECO online revealed that both Lufthansa and United Airlines were teaming up to negotiate with Neeleman.
ECO suggested that Air France and KLM were also ‘interested’.
At the time, the deal was mooted as being only for a share of Atlantic Gateway’s share.
But now that management and the government are at loggerheads over the issue of ‘bonuses’ it’s unclear what the deal will come down to.
Infrastructures minister Pedro Nuno Santos’ comments that bonuses would be ‘immoral’ created a form of ‘open war’ said Marques Mendes, adding that as far as he was aware, if management does go through with the bonus plan, the government will call a general assembly to push for the dismissal of the entire board of TAP administration.
