Aegean Airlines agree to buy OA for 72 mln euros

Aegean Airlines on Monday announced that it has agreed to buy rival Olympic Air from Marfin Investment Group (MIG) for 72 million euros, a bid aimed at strengthening its position amid an economic crisis. Under the terms of the agreement, Olympic Air will become a subsidiary of Greek-listed Aegean Airlines. The two companies will maintain their brand names and logos and their flight programme, fleet and staff.

All administration services will be intergraded to achieve the necessary scale economies and to maximizing both fleet and network to better service passengers in Greece and abroad. The deal is pending approval by competition authorities, while the deal will not affect Aegean Airlines’ current shareholder base.

Theodore Vassilakis, chairman of Aegean Airlines, commenting on the deal stated: “Aegean and Olympic Air have invested 2.0 billion US dollars to renew their fleet, in organising and innovative services, ensuring an excellent level of services acknowledged each year with significant international awards. At the same time, the contribute with 270 million euros in taxes and duties to the state.
The lack, however, of a size capable to compete in European and global level and an intense crisis lead to losses and shrinking. The threat that our strategic industry of tourism to be fully dependent from international carriers is clear, with significant long-term losses for the state and to employment. The deal significant economic synergies will allow us to offer improve network coverage and more competitive prices to consumers. We hope that all Greeks will support this difficult, ambitious and absolutely necessary effort”.

A decision to sell Olympic Air to Aegean Airlines is part of MIG’s strategy to focus on its core activities, Efthimios Bouloutas, MIG’s chief executive said in a statement. He stressed that the deal will ensure the future use of Olympic Air’s brand name.

SOURCE: ATHENS NEWS AGENCY