ANA Holdings, Inc (ANA HD), parent of All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest and 5-star airline for six consecutive years, will invest US$95 million in PAL Holdings Inc. and acquire 9.5% of PAL Holdings’ outstanding shares. PAL Holdings is the parent of Philippine Airlines Inc. (PAL).
ANA HD will acquire the shares from Trustmark Holdings Corp owned by the Lucio Tan family, the largest shareholder of PAL Holdings.
Completion of the investment is subject to certain closing conditions.
In line with its Mid-Term Corporate Strategy for FY2018-2022, the ANA Group is expanding its international group network, considered its main growth pillar, and strengthening its partnerships with foreign airlines to provide further convenience to its passengers.
Jaime J. Bautista, president of PAL Holdings and Philippine Airlines, said: “We are honored and excited that a premier airline group such as ANA HD has decided to purchase shares in PAL Holdings. The Philippines and Japan have a long-standing relationship with complementary strengths. This week, in fact, we commemorate the 70th year of Philippine Airlines’ service to Japan, dating back to the launch of our first Manila-Tokyo flight on January 26, 1949. It is a great privilege to celebrate this historic occasion by strengthening our ties with ANA, as we aim to build a relationship that is mutually beneficial with an eye to a more progressive future.”
Shinya Katanozaka, president and CEO of ANA HOLDINGS INC., said: “Asia is a key growth market and we believe Philippine Airlines is in an excellent operational position to capitalize on both the strong uptick in air traffic growth as well as the vibrant, expanding Philippine economy. We look forward to expanding our business relationship with Philippine Airlines so we can continue to serve our passengers even better.”
PAL currently operates 84 flights weekly on nine routes to Japan while ANA operates 14 flights weekly on two routes to the Philippines. The two carriers have code-share operations on Japan-Philippine routes and domestic routes within Japan and the Philippines, linking a total of 16 Japanese and 11 Philippine destinations.
PAL has seen its fleet and network grow to almost 100 aircraft and 80 destinations in four continents.
