International Consolidated Airlines Group, S.A. is a British-Spanish multinational airline
holding company headquartered in London, United Kingdom and with its registered office in
Madrid, Spain.
It was formed in January 2011 by the merger of British Airways and Iberia, the flag carrier
airlines of the United Kingdom and Spain.
It is the seventh-largest airline company in the world measured by 2010 revenues.
IAG has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and has been a FTSE 100 constituent
since 24 January 2011.
It has secondary listings on the Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia stock exchanges, and has
been a constituent of the IBEX 35 index since 1 April 2011.
British Airways, Iberia and Vueling operate under their separate brand names.
History
British Airways and Iberia signed a preliminary merger agreement in November 2009.
In April 2010, British Airways and Iberia signed a full merger agreement, with an intended
completion date of late 2010, subject to securing the necessary regulatory approvals.
The merger between British Airways and Iberia was completed on 21 January 2011, and shares
in IAG began trading in London and Madrid on 24 January.
In March 2011, IAG agreed to purchase eight Airbus A330-300 aircraft and to take options
on eight more, to be used for Iberia's longhaul fleet.
On 6 October 2011, IAG created Iberia Express, a new low-cost airline to operate short- and
medium-haul routes from IAG's Madrid hub and provide transfer feed onto Iberia's longhaul
network.
Iberia Express began operations on 25 March 2012.
On 4 November 2011, IAG agreed in principle to acquire British Midland International from
Lufthansa for an undisclosed sum, in a deal which would increase IAG's share of slots
at Heathrow airport from 45% to 54%.
On 22 December 2011, IAG agreed a binding deal with Lufthansa to acquire BMI for £172.5
million.
On 30 March 2012, the purchase of BMI was approved, subject to the condition that the
combined group divest itself of 12 daily slots and lease two daily slots at Heathrow airport.
The acquisition was completed on 20 April 2012, and the BMI fleet and routes will be
integrated into the British Airways schedule by the end of 2012.
On 8 November 2012 International Consolidated Airlines Group made a cash tender offer to
buy 100 per cent of Vueling, the Spanish low-cost airline based in Barcelona.
IAG's subsidiary Iberia currently owns 45.85% of Vueling and the Iberia board has agreed
not to tender the offer.
This means that Iberia would retain its existing shareholding in Vueling with IAG if successful
gaining the remaining 54.15%.
The offer, was €7 per ordinary share of Vueling with the total cost of acquiring the
54.15% anticipated to be €113m.
It will be funded using internal IAG resources.
The reported total assets of Vueling as of 30 September 2012 were €805m and in the
nine months to 30 September 2012 it generated profits before tax of €59m.
An application for authorisation of the offer, was submitted to the Comisión Nacional del
Mercardo de Valores.
After getting the go-ahead from the CNMV, the offer was launched to Vueling's shareholders
in the first quarter of 2013 and, Vueling has recommend its shareholders reject the
offer.
The offer will be subject to a minimum acceptance condition of 90% of the voting rights of the
Vueling shares not already owned by Iberia.
It is not subject to regulatory approval by the European Commission.
The board of IAG improved its offer for Vueling to €9.25 on 27 March 2013.
This offer was accepted by the Vueling board on 9 April 2013 and received majority shareholder
approval on 23 April 2013.
IAG will assume control of Vueling on 26 April 2013.
In December 2012, IAG completed the merger of the cargo operations of British Airways,
BMI and Iberia into a single business unit, IAG Cargo.
In April 2013, IAG confirmed the conversion of options to acquire 18 Boeing 787 Dreamliners
into firm orders, in a deal worth around US$4.5 billion.
The aircraft are planned to replace some of British Airway's fleet of Boeing 747s between
2017 and 2021.
On 16 October 2013, Iberia unveiled a new livery to be used from the end of November
2013.
At the Farnborough Airshow 2014, IAG converted the options for 20 Airbus A320neo aircraft
into firm orders which are currently intended to replace 21 shorthaul British Airways aircraft.
Corporate affairs Structure and headquarters
IAG is incorporated in Spain as a Sociedad Anónima, its board meetings are held in Madrid
and its tax domicile is in Spain.
IAG has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and has been a FTSE 100 constituent
since 24 January 2011.
It has secondary listings on the Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia stock exchanges.
IAG has its operational headquarters, which controls the management of both its Spanish
and British subsidiaries, at 2 World Business Centre on the property of London Heathrow
Airport in the London Borough of Hillingdon.
Divisions, subsidiaries and franchises The structure of the main operating companies
is: British Airways Plc
BA CityFlyer British Airways Limited
OpenSkies Comair
Sun-Air
Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A.
Group Iberia
Air Nostrum Iberia Express
Amadeus IT Group VIVA Tours
Cacesa Iberia Cards
Iberia Training Adquiria
Vueling Airlines, S.A.
IAG Cargo Minority shareholdings
Royal Air Maroc Air Mauritius
Major shareholders Financial results
Destinations IAG has around 415 aircraft and serves around
200 destinations.
Fleet As of 17 January 2014, IAG had a total of
412 aircraft with 150 aircraft on order and in excess of 110 options.
The most popular type operated is the Airbus A320 series, with a combined fleet of 226
aircraft.
For details of the current aircraft operated by the group, see the fleet details for each
of the main operating subsidiaries - British Airways, Iberia and Vueling.
References
External links
Official website