The owner of the airline company Westjet has opened 25% of its capital to three foreign companies, Delta Air Lines, Korean Air and Air France-KLM, the latter owning 2.3% of the Canadian low-cost company, according to a press release on Thursday. This operation, concluded on Wednesday, allowed the American Delta Air Lines to acquire 15% of Westjet from its parent company, the Canadian investor Onex, while the South Korean company acquired 10%. Delta, a long-time business partner of Air France-KLM, subsequently sold 2.3% of Westjet’s equity to the Franco-Dutch group.
When it was announced on May 9, the operation had a cost of 550 million dollars, of which Delta paid 330 and Korea 220. The 2.3% sold then by Delta to Air France-KLM was valued at 50 million dollars, according to a press release.
A fleet of 200 aircraft
Founded in 1996, Westjet has almost 200 aircraft in its fleet and says it serves more than 100 destinations in the Americas, but also in Asia and Europe. Canada’s leading low-cost airline announced in early September that it had signed with Boeing for 67 additional aircraft, doubling its order book with the American aircraft manufacturer.
For its part, Air France-KLM recalled on Thursday that it had been “a partner of Westjet since 2009, initially in the form of interline marketing agreements.”
After being restructured twice during the Covid-19 pandemic with the help of the French and Dutch states, Air France-KLM has returned to profit and said it is determined to participate in the consolidation of the airline sector. The group, which is finalizing the acquisition of the Scandinavian company SAS, is also targeting TAP Air Portugal, whose privatization Lisbon recently launched.
Source: BFM TV
