Apollo invests €500 million in Air France-KLM

Investor Apollo Global Management invests 500 million euros in Air France-KLM. The amount will go to a temporary subsidiary that owns several spare engines for Air France KLM. Air France-KLM will use the money to accelerate the repayment of a loan from the French State.

Air France-KLM benefits from lower financing costs through the investment, while Apollo will not receive any shares in the aviation group. There is also no change in the business operations. Apollo receives 6 percent interest on its investment for the first three years. That percentage will increase in the subsequent years, but Air France can repay the investment at any time after the first three years.

Apollo’s investment is part of the refinancing measures that Air France-KLM announced at the beginning of this year. The measures included a share issue, which has since been completed. The Dutch State bought additional shares to ensure that its interest in Air France-KLM remained the same. The fact that the Netherlands spent hundreds of millions of euros that were used to pay off French state aid did cause some political unrest.

KLM already repaid the aid it received from the Dutch State to get through the coronavirus crisis.