Abra, the owner of Goal and Avianca, announces its agreement with Chilean Sky to be part of the holding company | Companies

Abra provided the Chilean company with a loan during the pandemic guaranteeing the possibility of converting this debt into a 40% stake in the airline. As highlighted value In a report issued in mid-October, the groups had been negotiating for some time about the possibility of Sky being part of the holding company. Simply converting the debt into a non-controlling stake in Sky was considered unattractive by the Abra team.

According to the lesson, during the final documentation and regulatory approval process, both parties will maintain complete independence and the way users, suppliers, employees and entities relate to the different companies will remain the same.

At the end of the deal, Sky’s ownership will be integrated into the group, and the current majority of shareholders in the Chilean company will have a percentage of ownership of Abra – these percentages have not been announced. Sky will retain its brand and Holger Paulmann will continue as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

“Sky is a company with which we share the same goal: access to air transport as a priority. At Abra, we want more people to travel in Latin America and to be able to do so reliably, with the best communications network, friendly service and competitive offer. Adding SKY to the group will allow us to further strengthen the aviation market in the region,” Adrian Neuhauser, Abra Group CEO, said in a note.

“This is great news for our company and our passengers,” Holger Polmann, Sky Airline’s president, said in a statement. “Once the preliminary agreement submitted today is approved by the relevant competition authorities, SKY will become part of a group that currently operates a combined fleet of more than 300 aircraft and connects more than 140 destinations in more than 25 countries. This means more routes, more opportunities and more travel options for our passengers – without leaving our core aside,” he said.