The board of Spanish low-cost airline Vueling has unanimously recommended shareholders accept a takeover offer from the International Airline Group (IAG).
The offer from the British Airways-Iberia group which is headed by former Aer Lingus CEO Willie Walsh has offered €9.25 a share.
IAG already owns just over 45% of Vueling. It raised its bid for the carrier last month by almost one-third after the Barcelona-based carrier rejected a previous offer of €7 per share.
IAG said in a statement that the Spanish National Securities Market Commission has authorised the changes to the tender offer.
Plans to expand network
Vueling announced in January that it carried 804,938 passengers that month which represented an increase of more than 10% compared to January 2012. The company reached a load factor of 71.7%.
The airline also plans to expand its route network from this summer including a new service to London Gatwick, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf. It also say there will be significant increases in the frequency of flights from Barcelona together with new cities in Morocco, Germany, France, Italy and Scandinavia.
IAG is trying to lay off more than 3,000 workers and cut salaries at its Spanish airline Iberia to return it to profitability.
CEO Willie Walsh has previosuly been critical of Spanish airport taxes.
