SATA Internacional buyer cannot make redundancies for 30 months

The buyer of SATA Internacional is obliged, for 30 months, not to make redundancies, ensure the connection between the Azores and the diaspora and maintain some routes with Lisbon and Porto, paying at least six euros per share.

These conditions are set out in the terms of reference for the public tender for the sale of a minimum of 51% and a maximum of 85% of the share capital of Azores Airlines [SATA Internacional], published today in the Official Journal and consulted by Lusa.

This “minimum period of 30 months” from the date of transmission of the shares is defined as being part of the “minimum obligations of the acquirer”, it reads.

The obligation to maintain the company's headquarters in the Azores also has the same period of two years and six months in the terms of reference, which sets at a minimum of six euros the "value to be proposed per share" of the company.

“Based on the number of SATA Internacional shares on the date the public announcement is sent for publication […], which is 1,000,000.00, the value to be proposed per share cannot be less than €6.00, under penalty of exclusion from the proposal”, is described in the document.

As for workers, the company is bound to “not proceed with collective redundancies, nor the extinction of existing jobs for a minimum period of 30 months from the date of transfer of shares”, as well as “to respect the collective agreements of current work”.

The same deadline is defined to “maintain the Lisbon – Ponta Delgada – Lisbon and Lajes – Lisbon – Lajes routes, as well as the Porto – Ponta Delgada – Porto and Porto – Lajes – Porto routes”.

The winning company must “submit a proposal to the public tender that may be launched for contracting scheduled air services on non-liberalized routes between the mainland and the region and between the latter and Madeira, or to maintain the proposal that has already been presented by SATA International within the framework of this competition”.

The 30-month period also applies to maintaining the “link between the Azores and the Azorean diaspora, namely those residing in the United States of America and Canada”.

The company that wins the tender is also limited, for three years, to the sale, “directly or indirectly, of the shareholding in SATA Internacional.

However, “the acquirer may, at any time, sell the shareholding in SATA Internacional acquired within the scope of this tender to entities that belong to the same economic group, and SATA Holding must be informed of the sale within a period of five days from the date of same".

“After the period of unavailability, the eventual transmission of the acquired shareholding […] is subject to a preemptive right in favor of SATA Holding”, reads in the document.

Among the weighting factors in the selection of competitors, the document indicates that there is the “contribution to the development and reinforcement of the 'hub' of the Azores as a platform of crucial importance in the connections of the Azores with the rest of the national territory, Europe and with the Azorean diaspora, especially those residing in the United States of America and Canada.

The “contribution to the transport of cargo and patients on stretchers” and the “contribution to strengthening the economic and financial capacity” of SATA Internacional are also part of the valued criteria.

Bidding among all competitors is foreseen if “any proposal presents a price per share with a difference equal to or less than 5% of the price per share of the highest proposal”.

On the other hand, “after receiving the final report from the jury, the Board of Directors of SATA Holding may […] determine that a phase of negotiations be carried out with one or more competitors, with a view to presenting improved and final proposals”.

“By means of a duly substantiated decision”, SATA Holding's board of directors may also “reject one, several or all of the proposals evaluated by the jury”.

In the event that the Regional Government of the Azores does not authorize the sale to the competitor selected by the Board of Directors of SATA Holding, “the competitor will not be entitled to any indemnity or compensation”, adds the document.

In June, the European Commission approved Portuguese state aid to support the airline's restructuring of 453.25 million euros in loans and state guarantees, providing for 'remedies' such as a reorganization of the business structure.

Azores Airlines operates to and from the archipelago, while SATA Air Açores makes inter-island connections.