December 23 (SeeNews) -
The Romanian state has taken over 75% of low-cost carrier Blue Air, a month after the company announced it was ready to hand over 75% of its shares to the finance ministry over unpaid debt, the head of the Authority for State Assets Management (AAAS), Daniel Geanta, said.
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The AAAS will start an audit at the company, Geanta said in a social media post.
The government agency will hold talks with a potential investor in the coming period, being open to negotiations, Geanta added.
Blue Air, the only air carrier in Romania with 100% domestic capital, started operations in December 2004.
In July, Romania's consumer protection authority fined Blue Air with 2 million euro for cancelling over 11,000 flights over a 12-month period.
At the end of October 2021, Ridgecrest, an AIM-listed cash shell, terminated negotiations on its proposed reverse takeover of Blue Air. The decision was a consequence of the airline's inability to raise the pre-reverse takeover funding, which was was the main condition of the non-binding heads of agreement between Ridgecrest and Blue Air's vendors announced in July, Ridgecrest said at the time.
In November, the finance ministry said it planned to take over a majority stake in the air carrier after it failed to make payments on a 300.75 million lei ($65.1 million/61.3 million euro) loan guaranteed with 75% of the company's stock.
($=0.9417 euro)