Proactive Investors - Shares in British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group SA took off after Spanish media reported that the government in Madrid had brokered a meeting to close the potential acquisition of Air Europa "imminently".
The Anglo-Iberian group originally announced it was buying Spanish carrier Air Europa in November 2019 for €500mln, but the purchase was put on hold as coronavirus hit the airline sector and regulators on the continent and UK raised concerns about competition.
But the presidential office and the Ministry of Transport in Madrid have brought the bosses of IAG's Iberia and Air Europa together in a meeting "for the first time", business website El Confidencial reported on Thursday, "to speed up a vital agreement for the country".
It was reported that the government has taken action to complete the acquisition after more than three years of negotiations.
Sources confirmed to the website that La Moncloa, the office of the Spanish president, met Air Europa CEO Nuño de la Rosa and Javier Sánchez-Prieto, president of Iberia to "approach positions and prevent a foreign group from staying with Air Europa", according to a translation.
As IAG already operates Iberia and Vueling in Spain, IAG chief executive Luis Gallego said in 2021 he was not very optimistic that a deal could be agreed, although remedies to competition concerns had been suggested to the authorities.
The shares rose 2.6% to 150.94p after just over an hour's trading in London.