Air France gives CityJet €180m to purchase VLM
14.03.08
Air France has given Dublin-based subsidiary CityJet almost €180m to complete the purchase of Dutch regional carrier VLM, the Irish Independent reports. The Paris-based airline agreed to buy VLM, which has its main hub at London City Airport, last December, declining to put a value on the deal.
Documents lodged with the companies' office in Ireland show that the VLM purchase will actually be carried out by CityJet, the newspaper reports. The Irish firm increased its share numbers by almost 205 million on February 18, pricing the new shares at €1 a piece. The following day, close to 180 million of the new shares were allocated to the French parent company.
CityJet chief executive Geoff White told the Independent: ‘The money is linked to our acquisition of VLM.’ He added that, subject to regulatory approval from the Office of Fair Trade (OFT), VLM will ultimately become a ‘subsidiary’ of CityJet, however, VLM's operations will continue to be based in Belgium after any takeover as the airline has a Belgian operating certificate (AOC).
Mr White said decisions on whether the two airlines would eventually be branded under the same marque had not been made yet. He said: ‘It is just one aspect of a multi-dimensional review that's going on at Air France KLM at the moment, where they're looking at brands across the group.'
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