Headlines

Bankrupt LATAM Airlines and Avianca Holdings are dramatically retrenching their once grand ambitions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing competition in Latin America as they mull once-unthinkable cooperation with rivals, Reuters reported. Since May, LATAM has exited Argentina, partnered with rival Azul SA in Brazil and cut back domestic operations in Chile, while Avianca has departed Peru. LATAM is now open to a deeper alliance with Azul, even as the two airlines usually control a combined 60% of Brazil’s domestic market.

Petra Diamonds, owner of the South African mine famous for producing two of the diamonds in the British crown jewels, has put itself up for sale as it battles to service its debts, the Financial Times reported. The London-listed miner, which has been in talks with creditors after the coronavirus pandemic hammered the diamond market, said it was seeking offers for all or part of the company that owns the Cullinan mine.

The restructuring of China’s Peking University Founder Group Corp (PUFG) highlights the limitation of keepwell deeds in protecting investors, ratings agency Moody’s said on Monday, casting a cloud over a structure used in almost $100 billion worth of Chinese dollar bonds, Reuters reported. Keepwell deeds are used by some Chinese companies to facilitate offshore bond sales by their subsidiaries. State-owned Peking Founder in February confirmed its failure to repay an onshore bond had led to a cross-default on $3 billion of offshore bonds.

Seafolly Pty Ltd, an Australian swimsuit maker part-owned by French fashion giant LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, appointed administrators on Monday citing a sales downturn from the coronavirus, the latest casualty of the health crisis in the country’s retail sector, Reuters reported. “Seafolly made the appointment because of the crippling financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Scott Langdon and Rahul Goyal, of KordaMentha Restructuring, in a statement.

Germany takes the helm of the EU’s rotating presidency on Wednesday with one overriding aim: to rescue the bloc from the worst economic crisis in its history, the Financial Times reported. Chancellor Angela Merkel met French president Emmanuel Macron today to discuss next steps for the €750bn recovery proposals unveiled by the two leaders in May, as well as the EU budget.

Mexican airline Aeromexico, which is in the process of analyzing its options for restructuring its short- and medium-term financial commitments, was thrown a $50 million financial lifeline on Monday by investment holding company Aimia Inc, Reuters reported. Aeromexico’s shares tanked earlier in June after a newspaper column said it was considering filing for bankruptcy, though the airline later clarified it had not decided whether to seek Chapter 11 protections in the United States.

Germany’s opposition called on Monday for a parliamentary inquiry into the collapse of payments firm Wirecard after a global fraud that left a gaping hole in its books went undiscovered by auditors and regulators for years, Reuters reported. The request for an inquiry came after Germany said it would cancel its contract with the country’s privately-run accounting watchdog FREP as a result of a scandal that financial regulator BaFin has branded a “total disaster”.

Canada’s Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the famed circus operator to cancel shows and lay off its artistes, Reuters reported. The Montreal-based entertainment company, which runs six shows in Las Vegas, has struggled to keep its business running amid coronavirus restrictions that started in March, forcing it to lay off about 95% of its workforce and temporarily suspend its shows.

South Africa’s Department of Public Enterprises announced its withdrawal from a panel that was established to facilitate talks with the troubled national airline’s workers about its planned overhaul, accusing three labor unions of undermining its work and putting jobs at risk, Bloomberg News reported. South African Airways was placed into a form of bankruptcy protection six months ago after a succession of managers failed to restore it to profitability and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni urged an end to repeated bailouts.

At the airport of Tarbes in France, row upon row of empty jets in liveries from Asia to Africa sit nose to tail on the tarmac, waiting out the coronavirus crisis in the foothills of the Pyrenees, Reuters reported. Air travel has tumbled to a fraction of normal levels due to the pandemic, grounding about two thirds of the world’s fleet and stretching Europe’s largest aircraft storage company. “Today there’s no (travel) demand. That is why we have more than 200 aircraft on our sites,” said Patrick Lecer, chief executive of TARMAC Aerosave, headquartered at Tarbes.