Even without presenting a plan to the US court, taking advantage of LATAM's situation in Chapter 11, the CEO of Azul Linhas Aéreas said he wants to buy the entire LATAM group.
The statement was made by John Rodgerson, CEO of Azul Linhas Aéreas, in an interview published this past Monday by Chilean newspaper Diario Financiero.
Rodgerson points out that Neeleman prepares an action plan to be executed after November 23rd. This will be the deadline for LATAM to present a viable plan for the company's recovery in court, which still needs to be approved by creditors.
“We would buy the entire asset. I believe the group has a lot of value and we are not thinking of splitting or selling divisions.”, said Neeleman. “If Latam manages to reach a restructuring, Azul will not be able to make its offer, but everything indicates that such an agreement will not be reached”, completed the CEO of Azul, who does not believe in approval from creditors.
“If the management of LATAM does not want Azul in the mix, the best way to achieve this is to give the creditors what they want, it is very simple”, said John Rodgerson.
Blue's CEO, John Rodgerson, has also publicly stated in recent months that his company has a concrete interest in the rival's operations in the country. John's proposal in Brazil is to merge the operations of LATAM Brasil with Azul, creating an airline with 70% of the national market.
However, LATAM has already stressed that it does not intend to sell part of its operations in Brazil and that the company is preparing to present its restructuring plan to leave the judicial recovery process based on Chapter 11 of the USA.
The negotiation of the sale of LATAM Brasil to Azul depends on the broad approval of creditors in the LATAM Group's judicial recovery plan. With the company being governed by Chapter 11 rules, shareholders can decide only a few details about the fate of the airline.
Another problem, to be faced by LATAM, is that one of the main creditors of the airline, Oaktree Capital Management and Knighthead Capital, holds bonds or shares of Azul. These two companies can apply pressure for the billionaire sale of LATAM Brasil to Azul.
However, this billionaire purchase process may face several obstacles, both judicial and sector regulation, as reported by Bradesco BBI.
