Israir offers to buy 100% of Smartwings shares
The two companies have a long history of working together. Smartwings has leased its aircraft, including crews, to Israir several times.
Smartwings could change hands in the near future. Israir, an Israeli company with which the Czech airline has long cooperated, wants to acquire a 100% stake in the company.
Israeli media, such as Calcalist, have written about the company’s interest, referring to the announcement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Israir submitted a final offer in the amount of EUR 44 million. The airline later confirmed its interest in buying 100% of the shares in an announcement to the stock exchange, Airways.cz points out. Smartwings would not comment on the situation but did not refute the information either.
Currently, there are two main owners of Smartwings: Czech investors led by Jiří Šimáně and Roman Vik have a slight majority, while the Chinese company Citic has a share of just under 50%. The owners do not communicate much, the Chinese investor has not brought the promised capital for further development.
Edited and translated by Lucie Trávníčková