The Brazilian airline Azul SA is working with Citigroup Inc. and Guggenheim Partners as it explores a potential offer for its troubled competitor Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, Bloomberg News reported. Shares in both companies rallied. The companies are advising Azul as it weighs several options, including an outright acquisition of its rival. Azul still could decide to shelve the idea. Any offer would need approval from the country’s regulator — known as Cade.

A $1.2 billion credit line from the government expected as soon as this month will be key for Brazil’s troubled airlines as they lobby for lower jet fuel costs and for help clamping down on passenger litigation, Azul SA Chief Executive Officer John Peter Rodgerson said, Bloomberg News reported. Unlike in the U.S. and Europe, Latin American nations offered little rescue for the sector during the pandemic, leaving the region’s airlines to deal with the crisis on their own. Several buckled: Avianca Holdings SA, Latam Airlines Group SA and Grupo Aeromexico SAB filed for bankruptcy in 2020.

Bankrupt Brazilian airline Gol received U.S. court approval on Wednesday for a $1 billion loan, after resolving the concerns of a group of lenders that feared they would be sidelined by the new loan, Reuters reported. Gol had previously proposed borrowing $950 million in bankruptcy, but it allowed the objecting lenders to kick in an additional $50 million on the new loan and receive interest on that new debt, Gol's attorney Justin Cunningham said at a hearing in Manhattan.

Brazil's inflation picked up in mid-February driven by higher education prices, but landed slightly below market expectations, government statistics agency IBGE said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The IPCA-15 consumer price index rose 0.78% in the period, while economists polled by Reuters expected an increase of 0.82%. In the same period of the previous month, inflation had hit 0.31%. n annual terms, inflation came in at 4.49%, below the expected 4.52%.

Light SA, a Brazilian utility that filed for bankruptcy protection last year, released a new version of its judicial recovery plan outlining capital increase of 1.5 billion reais amid ongoing negotiations with creditors to restructure its debt, Bloomberg News reported. The troubled Rio utility said in a filing that 1 billion reais will come from key shareholders, including Nelson Tanure, Ronaldo Cézar Coelho and Carlos Alberto Da Veiga Sicupira, who own 50% of the company.

Unigel has agreed a Brazilian reais (R) 3.9 billion ($791 million) debt restructuring with its creditors, which has saved the beleaguered styrenics, acrylics and fertilizer producer from filing for bankruptcy for the time being, ICIS.com reported. The agreement includes raising a new $100 million credit line that will mature in 2027, and give its shareholders “economic benefits corresponding” to 50% of the company, it said. An intention to improve the company’s governance structure is also included, although Unigel did not disclose further details.

Brazil´s state-controlled oil giant Petrobras has no plans to lower jet fuel prices as part of a wider effort to rescue struggling Brazilian airlines, Bloomberg News reported. The Rio de Janeiro-based producer can’t just lower prices when the government tells it to, Chief Executive Officer Jean Paul Prates told Bloomberg News during a recent trip to India, reiterating his opposition to such a move. Prates added that “abnormal” airfare costs continued in 2023 even while jet fuel prices fell.

Fertilizer maker Unigel Participacoes SA is pitching a last-minute deal to avoid filing for bankruptcy protection as a temporary order shielding it from creditors expires, Bloomberg News reported. The company is trying to sell bondholders led by Pacific Investment Management Co. on a plan that would include an injection of $100 million in new money, and allow it to restructure debt out of court, said the people, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. Unigel needs the buy-in of about a third of its bondholders to kick off the restructuring.

Bankrupt Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA won court permission to investigate whether its rival Latam Airlines Group SA sought to take unfair advantage of its recent chapter 11 filing by improperly soliciting major Boeing Co. aircraft suppliers, Bloomberg News reported. Judge Martin Glenn said Monday there is merit in investigating allegations Latam tried to either poach or interfere with Boeing 737 aircraft lessors doing business with Gol after the Brazilian budget airline filed bankruptcy last month.

Brazilian grain exporters lobby Anec on Thursday warned it was concerned about a rise in farmer bankruptcy filings in the country, adding a recent increase in cases potentially compromises the execution of grain contracts, Reuters reported. The rise in farmer bankruptcy cases, which may affect delivery of committed grains throughout the season, may also hamper traders' ability to complete their export programs, Anec said. Farmer groups, including Aprosoja-Mato Grosso and Aprosoja Brasil, did not have an immediate comment.