The government initiated the reprivatization of TAP on Thursday. A decree-law was approved and now awaits the President’s promulgation. The Executive aims to present the terms of sale to the Council of Ministers within 15 days.
The government anticipates completing the four phases of TAP’s reprivatization within a year, though the timeline depends on regulatory approvals.
What is the government’s goal? What does the privatization decree entail? Notícias ao Minuto has compiled a guide with five questions and answers on this topic.
1. How much of TAP’s capital does the government intend to privatize?
In the first phase of TAP’s reprivatization, the government plans to sell 49.9% of the airline’s capital, as announced by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro during a press conference.
“We approved a decree-law fulfilling a point in our electoral and government program, which is the reprivatization of 49.9% of TAP’s share capital,” Montenegro emphasized, calling this the “kick-off” of the first phase. The Executive also plans to reserve up to 5% for employees, as outlined in the privatization law.
The Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, announced the government approved the reprivatization of 49.9% of TAP on Thursday. The aim is that “44.9% will go to an investor and 5% to workers,” Montenegro detailed.
Beatriz Vasconcelos with Lusa | 12:33 – 10/07/2025
2. Management and decisions… who will control TAP?
The privatization terms for TAP include shared management through a shareholder agreement to be negotiated with the future buyer, ensuring the state retains a say in critical decisions.
“The buyer will handle day-to-day management, but the state will have a say on critical decisions such as maintaining the hub, headquarters, or strategic routes,” explained Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz during a briefing after the Council of Ministers.
“The government’s intention is to allow the investor to create synergies through significant management roles and require broad consensus between the state and the partner for critical decisions,” he added.
3. How will the government evaluate proposals?
Proposals will be assessed based on three criteria: pre-qualification will consider integrity, autonomy, and financial robustness. A key requirement is that the airline must be larger than TAP. Additionally, the vision for the second phase of privatization will also be considered, according to the Infrastructure Minister.
Strategic criteria include presenting a long-term industrial and strategic plan and focusing on investment in operations in Porto and other airports.
Financially, the immediate cash offer for shares in euros will be valued, among other aspects. “We may value proposals offering additional appreciation methods, such as performance bonuses (earn-outs), future valuation of remaining shares, dividends, and stock swaps with the future buyer,” he detailed.
4. What if no proposal safeguards the “interest”?
The Prime Minister assured that TAP’s privatization could be halted if the government deems the proposals do not safeguard the country’s strategic interest.
“If no proposal safeguards what we consider strategically relevant, the decree we approved allows us to suspend or even cancel this process without any compensatory consequences for the interested parties,” announced Luís Montenegro.
The Infrastructure and Housing Minister noted that the Executive of Luís Montenegro sought to ensure the President’s “concerns” regarding TAP’s reprivatization would be addressed to avoid a scenario similar to October 2023.
Daniela Filipe | 23:21 – 10/07/2025
5. Is it possible to recover the 3.2 billion euros injected by the state into TAP?
The Finance Minister indicated that recovering the 3.2 billion euros injected by the state into TAP is challenging, emphasizing that evaluations should be based on market reality, not outdated estimates.
“We should be rigorous and consider facts and reality. If 49.9% of TAP were worth 3.2 billion euros, TAP would be valued at 6.4 billion euros. Air France-KLM, with six times more aircraft and passengers and listed on the stock exchange, is valued at three billion euros,” stated Miranda Sarmento during the Council of Ministers briefing in response to comments from the PS leader.
“TAP being six times smaller than Air France-KLM would have to be worth twice that company. It seems that reality and facts do not match that statement,” he added.
The discussion involves the 3.2 billion euros of public support injected into the airline due to the pandemic restructuring plan.
The Finance Minister today defended that recovering the 3.2 billion euros injected by the state into TAP is difficult, emphasizing that evaluations should be based on market reality rather than outdated estimates.
Lusa | 18:44 – 10/07/2025
