Chile’s LATAM Airlines has asked Brazil’s antitrust regulator CADE to boost its voting stake in LATAM Airlines Brazil to 51%, formalizing a controlling interest in Brazil’s No. 2 airline reported Reuters.
In December, Brazil’s then-President Michel Temer signed an executive order allowing foreigners, for the first time, to own up to 100% of domestic Brazilian airlines. That temporary measure will expire by June if not ratified by Congress.
While the move is the first concrete action in Brazil following Temer’s executive order, it will have little practical effect. In its financial statements, LATAM Brazil already says the Chilean company is its “indirect controller.” In 2012, Chile’s Lan merged with Brazil’s Tam, resulting in the creation of LATAM.
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