The French government sold almost half its stake in Air France KLM in December as part of a wider deal which could see its remaining stake cut to below 20 percent, according to Reuters.

The initial sale will leave the French government with around a quarter of the former state carrier whose takeover of Dutch airline KLM earlier this year made it the world’s largest airline by sales.

Air France and KLM have a shared management under French Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta and a combined staff of 106,000. But the KLM takeover left the airlines as separate operating companies with their own networks, aircraft fleets and loyalty programs.