ANA completes acquisition of 9.5% stake in PAL

A landmark investment deal between Japan’s largest airline group and flag carrier Philippine Airlines was finalized on Thursday.

PAL Holdings disclosed in a stock exchange filing on Thursday that Japan’s ANA Holdings had completed the acquisition of a 9.5-percent stake in the operator of PAL.

The deal involved 1.1 billion shares of PAL Holdings, which was transferred to ANA via a special block sale at the Philippine Stock Exchange.

ANA, which owns All Nippon Airways, earlier announced in a joint statement with PAL that it was buying the stake for $9.5 million.

Funds generated from the sale would be used by PAL’s controlling stockholder Lucio Tan “to continue its support for the operations and the potential expansion programs of Philippine Airlines,” a previous disclosure showed.

PAL, which won a four-star rating from Skytrax last year, earlier revealed a goal to become a five-star airline by 2020. Partnering with a five-star carrier such as ANA was seen to bolster this target.

The partnership with ANA was also seen to unlock more benefits, including the possibility of membership in a global airline alliance, according to CAPA Center for Aviation chief analyst Brendan Sobie.

Membership in a global airline alliance offers benefits such as an expanded network and cost savings.

PAL president Jaime Bautista earlier said they were strengthening ties by mounting more flights to Japan and deploying larger planes in certain routes to increase capacity.