A new initiative is being mobilized in Portugal that aims to create a national consortium to compete in the future local government competition for the privatization of the flagship airline TAP. The information was published on August 24 by Jornal de Negócios.
The main face of the consortium will be Diogo Lacerda Machado, a former administrator and advisor to TAP and the government of Antônio Costa. Besides him, there are likely to be other big names in the group, including Germán Efromovich, a wellknown businessman of several nationalities, including Brazilian, and former owner of the Colombian airline Avianca.
It wouldn’t be the first time Efromovich tried to acquire TAP. In 2015, he tried but lost to David Neelman and Humberto Pedrosa. Previously, in 2012, Efromovich had also made a proposal to take over the carrier.
In addition, it was mentioned that businessman Mário Ferreira would also be part of the group. Ferreira is the owner of Douro Azul and Media Capital. The consortium is expected to be officially announced in September, when the government intends to publish the TAP privatization specifications with the relevant conditions.
The government has planned to privatize TAP by the end of the first half of 2024, but the tender format has not yet been fully defined or publicly announced. What is known is that the Portuguese government intends to maintain a strategic stake in the stateowned airline.
TAP has had a black balance sheet in recent months, which makes the company more attractive and could be helpful in the bidding process.