October 15 (SeeNews) - Greek flag carrier Aegean Airlines said it has acquired a further 26% stake in Romanian airline Animawings for 888,000 euro ($1.03 million), reaching a total stake of 51%.
This is the second phase in Aegean’s involvement that was initiated in early 2020, when Aegean acquired a 25% participation in the airline for 412,000 euro, Aegean said in a press release on Thursday.
You can subscribe to our M&A newsletter here
Aegean's total investment for the 51% stake in Animawings amounts to 1.3 million euro.
"We strongly believe in the potential of the Romanian market and the capabilities of our partner Memento Group. We will proceed with careful, gradual steps, focusing on quality services to the passengers of the joint airline and as always on further supporting Greek tourism," Aegean CEO Dimitris Gerogiannis said.
In the summer of 2022, Animawings will operate with three aircraft sourced from Aegean’s fleet. The flight program will mainly support the leisure segment from Romania with both charter and scheduled flights.
Aegean will oversee and support operations, while the commercial support of Animawings will continue to be carried out mainly by its parent group Memento.
"Animawings is ready to pass in the second phase of growth and I am very confident that expanding the partnership with Aegean will bring many benefits in the sense of imposing our company as a top player in the local and regional aviation market," founder of Animawings and Memento Group president Cristian Pandel said.
Animawings, launched in January 2020 by Memento group and Greek charter airline Orange2Fly, will provide charter flights operated by local tour operators to holiday destinations in Greece, Turkey, Spain, Egypt and Tunisia. Orange2Fly is a Greek charter airline founded in 2015 and headquartered at Athens International Airport. It offers wet lease, charter and ad hoc flights.
According to information posted on its website, Memento Group hold the brands Christian Tour, Memento Bus, Memento Holidays, Memento Hotels, Pandels Properties, iMemento Inc and Fabrica de Asigurari.
($=0.8614 euro)