Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) says it is 'comfortable' with Swiss authorities' plans to review its agreement with Darwin Airline (Lugano) to acquire a 33.3% stake in the airline. The Emirati carrier said in a statement that it is working with Switzerland's Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) to ensure its proposal complies with regulations.
“We are comfortable with FOCA’s review and understand and support the need for there to be absolute clarity that Etihad Airways does not, cannot and will not exercise control over Darwin Airline,” Etihad President and Chief Executive Officer, James Hogan, said. “While our initial agreement has required amendment, we are seeking, as any minority investor would, protection for our investment. This is about protection, not control."
Following a review of Etihad's proposal, FOCA said in a statement last week that it had concluded that the proposed mechanisms of cooperation could "lead to control of Darwin by Etihad, and thus would be incompatible with statutory provisions."
The regulator subsequently gave Darwin, operating as Etihad Regional, until September 30 to make the necessary amendments to the agreement, which would then undergo a second review.
For its part, Etihad said that it had been told by FOCA in June that it would need to make changes to its proposal in order to secure regulatory approval. Since then, the two have collaborated in order to ensure compliance with Etihad guaranteeing that the majority 66.7% stake in Darwin would be retained by Swiss investors and that their interests would not be compromised.
“Etihad Regional was, and will continue to be, majority owned by Swiss shareholders and operated by Swiss management,” Hogan said.
The European Commission has also opened its own investigation into the transaction.
