Air Canada was to buy Transat for $720 million. If the transaction is approved, Transat shareholders will now have only $190 million to pay.
Air Canada and Transat announced on Saturday a revision of the arrangement agreement signed more than a year ago, in August 2019, which provided for a price of $18 per Transat share.
Air Canada’s new offer is now $5 per share, a price strongly driven down by the strength and the duration of the pandemic. Transat shareholders will have the option of receiving their due either in cash or in Air Canada shares.
The new agreement was unanimously endorsed by Transat’s board of directors. Shareholders will, in turn, have to approve it at a special meeting, the date of which has not yet been set, but which is expected to be held in early December.
The marriage could be ratified at the end of January or the beginning of February, Transat said.
