HNA of Chinese will be the third largest shareholder with 20% of TAP – Mad Money

The Chinese of HNA, after all, will join David Neeleman and Humberto Pedrosa at the Atlantic Gateway consortium and increase their participation in the TAP up to 20% of the capital. The group, which also owns the Blue Brazilian company, becomes the third largest shareholder

The strengthening of the Chinese group. – Which operates in the areas of tourism, aviation, real estate and logistics – is provided in the agreement shareholders that has been created in recent months between private shareholders and the government and defined the new model in which the state now holds 50% of the airline. This agreement was signed on Friday and presented yesterday by Minister Pedro Marques and Humberto Pedrosa, majority shareholder of Gateway.

“The HNA will have an indirect interest in TAP 13% with the conversion of obligations by Blue that adding the 7% that said, could reach 20%, “he said Humberto Pedrosa, at the ceremony.

the presence of Chinese still bring an approach to the East that currently TAP has not . “We expect a call as soon as possible to Beijing,” the minister said.

The final completion of the process, which is still dependent on debt negotiation with the bank, the sale of 5% to workers and authorizations the Competition Authority and ANAC, the aviation regulator, should only happen in “three months.” That is, until the end of August TAP should have closed the new structure, where the state owns 50%, private 45% and workers the remaining 5% – who will buy an IPO process which “begins,” the be drawn.

If all goes as planned, most of the company’s capital passes to national hands, dispelling doubts about the ownership of capital that worried the regulator of civil aviation. Still can still fall doubts about who actually controls the company, since management will remain private, and then, only Humberto Pedrosa meets the requirement of the European passport.

One of the next steps of the process now that the deal is sealed, is turning back to the bank debt of TAP will be renegotiated with creditors in an attempt to get better payment terms and more time to pay off. The company’s debt to banks round of 630 million euros and maturities, despite being renegotiated at the end of last year, will again be reviewed. At that time the Caixa Geral de Depósitos was the largest creditor of TAP, but also were in BCP list, Deutsche Bank, BIC, CGD and BPI.

Humberto Pedrosa said to Expresso that the goal is to increase the terms of payment for seven years, lowering interest rates to 3%, a process that will have the state guarantee to be brought to a successful conclusion. “The increased state participation will give a different comfort to banks and will be much easier to do debt negotiation,” he said yesterday.

When all these points are resolved, TAP will be “a company mixed capital managed as a private “and the government, while not interfering with the current management, may dictate the final word by the President of the Board of Directors, which will have to choose. This appointment will take place in June. For now, there is not yet any invitations. During this period they will also be chosen the names that will occupy the remaining seats in the administration – the state will have six directors and six other Gateway. Fernando Pinto will remain in office.

Although the position of the stockholder State grow 16%, the government will only move forward with 30 million euros for subscription until June, the part it deserves in bonds of the company. The financial involvement ensures Minister Pedro Marques, will be here, because the repurchases will be made at the same price (10.93 euros per share) that the private consortium paid when he won the sale of the TAP. This repurchase will cost 1.9 million to state coffers.