Holiday airline Condor towards a better future with new investor Attestor

In the middle of the Corona crisis, the state-supported vacation airline Condor has found a new majority owner. The London-based asset management company Attestor Capital is to take over 51 percent of the shares and invest heavily in the company. Attestor will bring in 450 million euros of fresh equity, of which 250 million euros will flow into a new long-haul fleet. All 4,050 jobs were retained.

The Federal Republic and the State of Hesse want to support the new start by foregoing the repayment of 150 million euros from the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) loan of 550 million euros, with which Condor has so far been in the air. Like the competition law issues, this is subject to approval by the European Union.

The 65-year-old Condor had gone through the storm several times, after the bankruptcy of its former parent Thomas Cook in 2019 and the subsequent turmoil of the airline in the corona crisis.

After the withdrawal of the Polish investor PGL, Condor was comprehensively restructured in 2020 in an extended protective shield process. After leaving bankruptcy in December, the owner was a trust company that pledged all of its shares to the state-owned KfW, which will initially remain a minority shareholder in Condor with 49 percent. Attestor intends to take over these shares as well.

Condor was reconstructed under the protective umbrella and trimmed costs. The number of employees fell by around 800 to 4050 now.

The Condor fleet last consisted of around 50 aircraft. The ageing long-haul fleet should be renewed as quickly as possible. With the announced EUR 250 million equity, aircraft worth around EUR 1 billion could be financed.

The company has relocated its headquarters from Frankfurt Airport to a more affordable property in nearby Neu-Isenburg and intends to offer a more extensive flight programme again this summer. This should go as quickly as possible than the usual two years for such an operation.

Source: dpa