As the quest to privatize TAP Portugal (Lisbon) moves ahead, the Portuguese Council of Ministers says it has accepted bids from the two South American-backed consortia while excluding another from local entrepreneur Miguel Pais do Amaral’s Quifel Holdings.
Portuguese Transport Secretary Sergio Monteiro said in a statement that the tender committee had accepted proposals for a 61% stake in the national airline from Gateway, a joint-venture between JetBlue Airways (B6, New York JFK) and Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras (AD, São Paulo Viracopos) founder David Neeleman and Portuguese bus company Barraqueiro Group, and SAGEF, a consortium led by Avianca Holdings chairman Germán Efromovich.
Local media outlets report Parpública, the firm which oversees government's shareholdings in companies, rejected Quifel Holdings' proposal on the grounds that as it was not binding, it did not therefore meet the tender's legal requirements. Amaral's request for an additional month to draft a formal binding offer was also rejected.
The Portuguese government will now hold further meetings with SAGEF and Gateway in the coming days to further hone their offers. Lisbon has hired consultancy firm Freshfields to ensure all candidates comply with European Union regulations concerning airline ownership quotas. Current quotas cap foreign ownership at 49% and while Efromovich is exempt by virtue of his Polish citizenship, Neeleman, who holds US and Brazilian citizenship, may come under additional scrutinization insofar as his bid is concerned.
Portugal's Publico newspaper says Efromovich has already announced he will challenge any outcome in which Neeleman's bid is chosen as the winner and has already surrounded himself with legal advisers in this regard.
