Overpriced Brazil to be profitable for Latam, Cueto says

Eduardo Thomson – Bloomberg, 08/17/2012

Latam Airlines Group SA (LAN), the world’s most valuable carrier created by Lan Airlines SA’s tie-up with Tam SA, said it can operate profitably in a market as “unbelievably expensive” as Brazil and meet savings goals.

Latam will use Lan’s expertise in managing networks to help contain costs in Brazil, Lan Chief Executive Officer Ignacio Cueto said. Tam, Brazil’s top airline by market share, lost 363 million reais ($214 million) in the past 12 months as Brazil’s economy grows at the slowest pace in three years.

“We know very well that the situation in Brazil is difficult and there’s a reason why aviation there in the last 20 years has had problems making money,” Cueto said yesterday in an interview from his Santiago office. “For their authorities it’s hard to understand how expensive they are. For example, fuel taxes are different in every state. If in Chile we have two people in charge of fuel, in Brazil you need 15.”

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Brazil approves LAN’s tender offer for TAM to create LATAM

Eduardo Thomson – Bloomberg, 05/07/2012

Brazil’s securities regulator paved the way to the completion of a deal that will create the world’s largest airline by market value.

CVM, as the regulator is known, approved Lan Airlines SA (LAN)’s plan to start a tender offer for shares of carrier Tam SA (TAMM4), according to a regulatory filing yesterday.

Santiago-based Lan has 10 days to make the offer for Tam shares, the airline said in a statement posted on the website of Chile’s securities regulator.

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Brazil approves TAM-LAN merger

AP/msnbc.com, 12/15/2011

Brazil’s antitrust regulator has approved the merger between TAM Airlines and LAN of Chile.

The merged company will be Latin America’s largest airline, known as Latam.

The antitrust regulator says in a Wednesday statement that the two companies must give another airline two takeoff and landing slots at Sao Paulo’s international airport for daily flights to Santiago.

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Brazil TAM, Chile LAN appeal three antitrust measures

Matthew Cowley and Anthony Esposito – Dow Jones Newswires/Fox Business, 10/04/2011

Brazil’s TAM SA (TAM, TAMM4.BR) and Chile’s LAN SA (LFL, LAN.SN) will appeal a Chilean antitrust court decision, but the legal process shouldn’t delay the airlines’ planned merger, which should be completed by the end of the first quarter next year, the airlinessaid Tuesday.

Although the conditions imposed by the Chilean antitrust authority won’t have a significant impact on the merger, the two airlines have still decided to appeal to Chile’s Supreme Court because three of the measures are “illegal and unconstitutional,” TAM and LAN said.

The merger looks to create Latin America’s biggest airline and one of the 10 biggest in the world.

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