Air Berlin to buy Condor from Thomas Cook
FRANKFURT (AFP) — German low-cost carrier Air Berlin said Thursday it was planning to buy the Condor airline from British-based travel operator Thomas Cook.
Air Berlin said it would buy Condor in two stages from Thomas Cook in a deal worth between 380 million euros and 475 million euros.
Air Berlin is planning to take over 75.1 percent of Condor in February 2009 and a further 24.9 percent in February 2010. The transaction requires regulatory approval.
Thomas Cook will end up with a 29.9-percent stake in Air Berlin as part of the deal.
Thomas Cook chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa said the tie-up would create "one of the leading low-fare airlines in Europe."
"One of the great things about this deal is that we get access to the capacity in Germany ... and also get access then to the synergies," he told journalists in a conference call.
Air Berlin said it believed it would make at least 70 million euros in savings from the tie-up.
Condor, founded in 1955, carries about seven million passengers a year.
It said in June it would be increasing long-haul flights for the winter season to meet rising demand after recording 20-percent rises this year in bookings for flights to destinations such as Mombasa in Kenya and Anchorage in the US state of Alaska.