Portugal signs TAP sale contract with Lufthansa for up to 49.9%; EU approval expected in 2028
Serguey Asael Shinder1 min readPortugal's government signed the share sale contract for TAP Air Portugal with Lufthansa on 3 November, formalising the partial privatisation announced on 14 October, Euronews reports. Lufthansa's offer was €1.201 billion for up to 49.9% of the airline's capital, of which 5% would preferably go to workers. The state will keep 51% and a majority on the board.
The ceremony took place at the TAP campus next to Lisbon airport with prime minister Luís Montenegro, finance minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento and Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr. Montenegro said the deal anchors the country's strategic interests and preserves TAP's identity and brand. Spohr said "TAP will continue to be a Portuguese airline" and that Lufthansa intends to develop Lisbon as one of its hubs, while naming Porto, Funchal, Madeira and the Algarve as part of its strategy and pointing to access to markets in Africa and Latin America, particularly Brazil.
Completion and integration into the Lufthansa group now depend on an assessment by the European Commission. The government expects European approval in the first half of 2028; until then the airline will be managed independently, with oversight from Lufthansa.
What it means
Signing fixes the price and the terms; the long part is the competition review. For more than a year TAP will be in between, still run on its own but already tied to a buyer, which shapes what it can commit to on routes and fleet.