Two years after increasing its participation in Animawings from 25% to 51%, Aegean Airlines withdraws its investment in the Romanian company, returning the shares of the tour operator from which it had purchased them, reports Naftemporiki quoted by Rador Radio Romania, quoted by stiripesurse.ro.
The Romanian Competition Council is examining the acquisition of Animawings Aviation SA, a subsidiary of the Greek airline Aegean, by Christian Tour Holding SA, which already owns a 49% stake. In its press release, the Romanian Competition Council notes that the Christian Tour group, also known on the market as the Memento Group, operates mainly on the tourist services market.
Animawings specializes in charter flights for travel agencies in Romania. According to the provisions of the Romanian Competition Law (no. 21/1996), the activity in question must be approved by the Competition Council, which will evaluate it in order to establish its compatibility with a normal competitive environment and to issue a decision within the terms established by law.
We remind you that in October 2021, Aegean announced "increasing its participation in the airline Animawings, a member of the Memento Travel Group (Cristian Tour) in Romania, from 25% to 51% and gradually taking over the assistance and co-management of the company, contributing its know-how to strengthening its operational function".
It was the second step of Aegean's participation in Animawings, the first being in early 2020 when it initially acquired a 25% minority stake in the airline founded by Memento Group (Christian Tour). Aegean's total investment for the acquisition of 51% of Animawings amounted to 1,3 million euros (paid-in share capital). Financial details of the planned deal to return the shares to the tour operator have not been made public.