Canada's Government approves proposed Air Transat/Air Canada purchase agreement

Canada's Government approved (11-Feb-2021) the proposed purchase of Air Transat by Air Canada, subject to the following terms and conditions:

• Measures to facilitate and encourage other airlines to take up former Air Transat routes to Europe;
• Preserving the Air Transat head office and brand in Quebec;
• Employment commitment of 1500 employees around the new entity's leisure travel business;
• Commitment to facilitate aircraft maintenance in Canada, prioritising contracts in Quebec;
• A price monitoring mechanism;
• Launch and operation of new destinations within the first five years.

The parties now require the approval of the European Commission. Given the time required for the commission to review the last additional information requested, the review period has been extended and a decision is expected to be rendered in 1H2021. Air Transat will discuss with Air Canada the appropriateness of extending the outside date for the consummation of the arrangement, which is currently set at 15-Feb-2021. After this date, if it is not extended, the arrangement will remain in effect, unless terminated by one of the parties. Air Transat board special committee chair Jean-Yves Leblanc stated: "We are currently working on adjusting all of the deadlines, including our financing agreements, in order to align them with the anticipated completion of the commission's review process". As previously reported by CAPA, it is proposed that Air Canada will acquire all issued and outstanding Class A variable voting shares and Class B voting shares of Transat for CAD5.00 (USD3.94) per share. [more - original PR] [more - original PR - Air Transat]