ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Turkish Airlines is still very interested in buying a stake in Spanish airline Air Europa and is in the process of preparing a binding offer, a company executive said during an earnings call on Wednesday.
“We are preparing to provide a binding offer very soon. However, we have not come to that stage yet. As soon as we have the board approval and board decision we will announce it publicly,” the executive said.
Turkish Airlines investor relations and financial executives responded to questions on the earnings call.
The executive said the main reason for the interest in the Spanish carrier is that its flight network complements that of Turkish Airlines, with a strong presence in Latin America and the Iberian peninsula.
On Tuesday, Lufthansa abandoned its plan to bid for a stake in Air Europa, following Air France-KLM which announced it had pulled out last week.
The process has faced delays due in part to disagreements between members of the Hidalgo family, which owns Air Europa, and concerns from interested airlines on the structure of the deal, Reuters previously reported.
Air Europa, which flies within Spain and connects Madrid with large Spanish cities in Europe and Latin America, is seeking to raise cash to repay a government loan.
The Turkish flag carrier disclosed in June that it was holding non-binding talks over a potential Air Europa investment.
(Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun and Ceyda Caglayan;Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
