LATAM Airlines' share of Brazil's domestic market reached its highest level in 11 years in March, data from local aviation regulator ANAC showed on Monday, while rival Gol continued to falter after filing for bankruptcy, Reuters reported. The Brazilian unit of Chile-based LATAM had a market share of 41% in the month as defined by revenue passenger-kilometers (RPK), according to ANAC figures, which the firm said was its highest since the 41.6% reached in July 2013.
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Brazil
Azul SA’s pursuit of a merger with Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA has gained momentum, with talks underway for a deal with the controlling shareholder of the rival Brazilian airline, Bloomberg News reported. In one scenario under consideration, holding company Abra Group Ltd. would contribute its Gol shares to Azul in exchange for a stake in the combined airline, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because discussions are still private. That type of transaction could appeal to Azul because it wouldn’t have to commit much cash, if any.
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Light SA will receive fresh cash and convert debt to equity under a preliminary restructuring deal it reached with creditors, Bloomberg News reported. The troubled Rio de Janeiro utility said in a filing released Monday the agreement in principal includes a capital injection of as much as 1.5 billion reais, the issuance of new notes and converting as much as 2.2 billion reais of existing debt into equity.
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Rio de Janeiro’s utility Light SA reached an agreement with creditors, moving a step closer to leaving a bankruptcy protection process that started last year, Bloomberg News reported. The deal includes 1 billion reais ($200 million) in equity injection from the company’s main shareholders, Nelson Tanure, Ronaldo Cezar Coelho and Carlos Alberto Da Veiga Sicupira, who own a combined 65% of the company.
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Jorge Paulo Lemann, the billionaire Brazilian dealmaker, said that together with his long-time partners, he’s trying to save retailer Americanas SA after a massive $5 billion fraud pushed it into bankruptcy protection, Bloomberg News reported. The trio of investors, that includes Marcel Telles and Carlos Sicupira, have owned Americanas since the early 1980s and their stake stood at about 30% when the scandal broke. Now, in the midst of a debt restructuring and recapitalization, they’ll own about half of the business.
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Restructuring Brazilian low-cost carrier Gol swung to a net loss of R1.1 billion ($221 million) in the fourth quarter, the first results it has disclosed since entering bankruptcy protection in January, FlightGlobal reported. The loss compared to a net profit of R231 million for the same period in 2022 and reflects the R1.1 billion impact of foreign exchange losses and other one-off items during the fourth quarter.
Brazil's finance ministry unveiled on Tuesday its proposal to reduce the burden of states' debt to the federal government, conditioned upon allocating resources to technical high school education, Reuters reported. The move comes after several governors have requested lower charges, arguing that the amount paid in interest is excessively high and hampers investment.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s plan to help Brazilians escape the record amounts of debt they amassed during the pandemic remains well short of its targets as it approaches its March 31 expiration, denting his efforts to unleash consumer spending and boost growth in Latin America’s largest economy, Bloomberg News reported. Desenrola, as the program is known, was expected to help as many as 70 million people, including 30 million with lower incomes and smaller debts.
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Brazil is putting the finishing touches on a rescue plan for its troubled airlines, as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government confronts a challenge the US and Europe dealt with much sooner after the pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. The package, to be announced in coming days, will use public funds as collateral for loans to struggling carriers from the country’s development bank, according to a person familiar with the matter. But the plan is still in flux and it’s expected to be more of a band-aid solution than an industry cure-all.
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