Brazil’s Azul wants to buy whole LATAM airline group or nothing, says founder

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A few years ago, few in Chile had heard of Azul, an emerging Brazilian airline founded in 2013 by Brazilian-born American entrepreneur David Neeleman, the same man who owns the renowned low-cost carrier JetBlue.

Its name only came onto the radar of Chileans in mid-2020, when in the midst of the pandemic it signed a codeshare agreement with LATAM, Latin America1s largest airline. But it would only come to the forefront in May 2021, when the pact collapsed less than a year later, following the explosive revelation that the small local partner had launched a merger bid for the stricken regional leader.

Key to these events has been CEO John Rodgerson, the American who has led the airline since its founding and who, in addition to being the mastermind behind the assault on Latam, managed to turn a small domestic carrier into a serious contender for Latin America’s largest market in just a few years.

Far from declaring bankruptcy, as Latam did, Azul got through the crisis without official help, and today it is number one in destinations, flying to 130 cities, more than before the pandemic.

AZUL WANTS TO BUY LATAM GROUP

Brazilian airline Azul (AZUL4) is interested in buying the entirety of Chile’s Latam Airlines Group, and not only its Brazilian subsidiary, and is ready to make an offer if creditors fail to agree on a restructuring plan, Azul founder and chairman David Neeleman told Chilean newspaper Diario Financiero on Monday.

“We know exactly what we are going to offer,” Neeleman said in the interview, adding that Azul will likely have to wait until November 23, when the statutory limit for reaching a restructuring plan runs out.

Reuters previously reported that Azul was interested only in buying Latam’s Brazilian operations, but in an interview with the Chilean newspaper, Neeleman said the plan is to buy and hold the entire company.

“We would buy all the assets. I believe the group has a lot of value and we are not thinking about spinning off or selling divisions,” he stated.

Neeleman said that if Latam can reach a restructuring, Azul will not be able to make its offer, but that everything indicates that such an agreement will not be reached.

Representatives of Latam did not immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment. In the past, the airline has said it had no intention of selling any of its parts.

LATAM

LATAM Airlines Group is considered the largest airline in Latin America with subsidiaries in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Peru.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States on May 26, 2020 due to economic problems attributed to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on aviation.

Although LATAM Airlines’ headquarters are located in Chile, the carrier is an American depositary receipt and traded on both the Santiago Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange at the time of bankruptcy.

The company’s stock ticker (LTMAQ) was unlisted from the NYSE, and was later moved to the unregulated OTC Markets Pink on June 12, 2020.

With information from Diario Financiero, Exame, Reuters