TAP sold the 49.9% stake it held in Sociedade Portuguesa de Handling (SPdH), known as Groundforce, to British company Menzies Aviation for just one euro. The transaction was completed on June 11, 2026, with the symbolic value justified by independent technical valuations that reflected the company's asset position and the framework of the new ground handling contracts negotiated between the parties. Menzies, which already owned the remaining 50.1% acquired under the Insolvency Plan approved in June 2024, thus took full control of the company's capital, which provides services at the airports of Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Funchal, and Porto Santo.
TAP had acquired this stake in 2024, through the conversion of 2.49 million euros in SPdH debt into equity. At the time, the airline already attributed a negative fair value of 14.7 million euros to its position, generating a positive goodwill of 17.2 million subsequently reduced to zero in the 2024 financial year. The sale for one euro therefore did not require the recording of any additional impairment. The operation received approval from the Court of Accounts in June 2026.
The accounts between TAP and the handling company are not yet fully settled. The airline is owed a total of 25.6 million euros, including 13 million in old receivables renegotiated with a new payment deadline set for December 31, 2030, at an effective annual interest rate of 6.6%. There is also 12.3 million euros related to scale gains and penalties from the service provision contract, of which four million are to be paid this year. TAP's board of directors, led by Carlos Oliveira, considers that the recovery of these amounts is not at risk, given that Menzies is well positioned to obtain revalidation of the handling licenses after the exclusion of the Spanish consortium Clece/South from the tender.
The insolvency of SPdH was requested by TAP itself and declared in August 2021, after conflicts with the previous majority shareholder, Pasogal, owned by Alfredo Casimiro. The sale of TAP's stake was one of the commitments made under the Restructuring Plan agreed with the European Commission in December 2021, which enabled the injection of 2.55 billion euros into the airline. This operation, together with the sale of Cateringpor, allowed the dossier in Brussels to be closed.
