Aegean Air invests in Volotea
Greek carrier has financed the Spanish airline with 25 mln euros through convertible bonds
Aegean Airlines has invested 25 million euros in low-cost Spanish carrier Volotea, an investment that could eventually be twice that amount and offer the Greek national carrier key synergies.
Aegean head Eftichis Vassilakis and Managing Director Dimitris Gerogiannis explained at a press conference on Tuesday that the capital injection of the Greek airline into Volotea includes two installments. The first, of €25 million, has already been paid to Volotea, as Aegean has participated in Volotea’s capital increase through a convertible loan.
In this way, Aegean, which participates in the profits of the foreign airline, acquires 13% of Volotea in case the bond is converted into shares. Its stake could rise to 21%, if the second part of the agreement is implemented, in the second half of 2025. That is, provided that Aegean invests another €25 million, together with the existing shareholders of Volotea, the second installment of a total amount of €50 million of its bond loan. In this way, Volotea will have raised capital up to €100 million in two phases.
The Greek airline remains a minority shareholder of Volotea. The majority belongs to the group of original shareholders of Volotea whose management remains the same under the leadership of Carlos Munoz.
Aegean has been cooperating with Volotea since as early as 2021 for some codeshare flights abroad. After the acquisition of a minority interest, the commercial cooperation of the two companies will now be strengthened, with goodwill for the Greek airline expected with a time horizon of three to five years. Capital gains for Aegean may be recorded more quickly if and when Volotea implements its plans for an initial public offering (IPO) in the near future. Very soon, however, the commercial agreement of the two companies will lead to the joint offer and promotion, through their sales network, of all their products and services. It is estimated that the two airlines will jointly offer 140 routes in Europe, with Volotea flying to 450 destinations.
