10/01/2012
AXIS AND CORPFIN JOINS CCMP CAPITAL IN VOLETEA’S SHAREHOLDING.
The VC/PE firms Axis Participaciones Empresariales and Corpfin Capital will participate in the capital of Volotea, the new low cost airline created by Vueling founders, Carlos Muñoz and Lázaro Ros. The VC/PE firms have joined the U.S. fund CCMP Capital Advisors LLC as announced later this year (see news). Voletea would have raised more than €30 million in this initial financing round. The management team, headed by Muñoz and Ros will maintain a stake in the company. Axis will carry out the investment through FESpyme fund, owned by ICO, while Corpfin will do it through Sinaer Inversiones.
The former CEO of Futura charter airline, Román Pané, and former planning director of Alitalia and Vueling, Marco Comani, are involved in the project. Personally, Bernardino Díaz-Andreu, investments director of Torreal, will also invest in the airline.
The company expects to begin operations in spring 2012, with a fleet of Boeing 717 aircraft exclusively, and is waiting for the air operator certificate already requested. Since the company anticipates that the intention is to offer direct flights between smaller cities of southern Europe, avoiding the use of 'hubs' of traditional companies, with the economic benefits for beneficiary cities.