Fusiones y Adquisiciones

✈ Estonian government has let its public airline, Nordica, and its subsidiary Xfly go bankrupt, affecting 579 employees with immediate job loss. The Nordic Aviation Group, led by Director General Remco Althuis, announced the unceremonious decision to sell assets and pay creditors. Nordica, established in 2015, failed to compete with Air Baltic and sought sale post-COVID-19 pandemic. Negotiations with Danish businessman Lars Thuesen, owning 20% of Air Baltic, ended in failure this week, prompting dissolution.

✈ Lufthansa will proceed with the purchase of ITA despite the crisis between the Italian government, ITA's majority shareholder, and Lufthansa, the 41% owner and airline manager. Conflicts arise from differing priorities: Lufthansa seeks profitability for investors, while the Italian government aims to win the upcoming elections. The coexistence of these two cultures in the same capital creates trust issues. In Portugal, TAP airline is for sale, but parliamentary opposition seeks to maintain control for electoral reasons, affecting the airline's operations.

📅 Ávoris, owned by Barceló, is in talks with CDV, led by Juanfran Trasmonte since 2015, for a potential merger of their consolidators to become Spain's market leader. The merger could result in a giant with over €230 million in air consolidation business. CDV expects an Ebitda above €700,000 in 2024. Ávoris recently launched Welcomefly, post-integrating Geoclick (Geomoon) from Globalia's travel division in 2022, and owns Travelgea Tours and Vista Travel.

💰 Ávoris, set to acquire Dit Gestión pending approval from the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC), would reach over 3,100 sales points by adding Dit Gestión's 800+ agencies to its existing 2,300. The deal's success hinges on maintaining the independence of Dit Gestión's agencies, which can still market any supplier's products. Approval is optimistically expected before year-end. This move follows Ávoris's acquisition of Gea, with its 500 offices.

🏠 Nordeste Properties invested €5.17 million in a historical building in Granada, acquiring 27 tourist apartments managed by Numa Stays. The building, built in 1900 and renovated in 2019, was bought from Persépolis Investments I and marks Nordeste's first foray into the tourist apartment market. The acquisition, financed entirely with own funds, houses the Numa Granada Vega complex and aligns with the company's asset diversification strategy, announced on August 16, 2023.

✈️ Air Europa's shareholders' meeting on Wednesday decided on a capital increase of 81 million euros to be completed before the year's end. Globalia will cover 80% of the injection, with IAG's 20% contribution still pending. IAG, in competition with Air Europa on some routes, is considering its participation as a financial stakeholder. Due to the pandemic, Air Europa must rebalance its equity to avoid bankruptcy following a government moratorium extension and is looking for new partners starting January, with prior interest from Lufthansa and Air France-KLM.

✈ Spirit Airlines, facing a severe financial crisis, is closing routes and selling aircraft. The U.S. low-cost carrier's stock plummeted by 55% on Wednesday. After a failed merger with Frontier Airlines due to a better offer from JetBlue—which was later blocked by U.S. competition authorities—Spirit is now renegotiating terms with creditors. The airline plans to cut $80 million in expenses annually, starting next year, by discontinuing routes and returning or selling planes. Despite these struggles, bankruptcy under Chapter 11 allows Spirit to continue operating while seeking solutions.

🏬 Ferrovial sold its remaining airport assets, including Southampton, Glasgow, and Aberdeen airports to AviAlliance, a Canadian pension fund manager. The sale involved AGS ownership transfer, with AGS's debt at two-thirds of the sale price, amounting to €1.8 billion. A past internal sale within Ferrovial was conducted for €1.2 billion. Ferrovial had to divest Edinburgh airport previously, now owned by France's Vinci, to mitigate competition concerns.

💧 In Vélez-Málaga, floodwaters from the overflowing Vélez River prompted the precautionary evacuation of two campgrounds, affecting 900 individuals. Two temporary shelters were set up: one at the Salvador Sánchez sports center in Torre del Mar, and another at the Paniagua school in Almayate. Torrential rains on Wednesday also disrupted the high-speed train line between Madrid and Malaga and caused chaos at the local airport. The downpour is moving away from Malaga towards western Andalusia.

✈️ Alitalia, despite not operating flights or owning aircraft, has announced major layoffs effective January 2025, impacting 2,059 employees, including 1,100 cabin crew and 82 pilots. The Italian government is responsible for contract terminations of the defunct airline, which faced detrimental contracts leading to its downfall. Concurrently, Lufthansa finalizes ITA's purchase, acquiring the Alitalia brand, which retains significant global value despite its diminished prestige in Italy and Europe.