Brazil Rescue Aid for Airlines to Reach $680 Million

(Bloomberg) -- The rescue package to airlines in Brazil will total about 4 billion reais ($680 million), according to people familiar to the matter.

The package, which was presented to airlines on Wednesday, includes credit from development lender BNDES, which will provide 60%, or no more than 2.4 billion reais, the people said, asking not to be named because the discussions are private. Other banks will provide another 10%, or no more than 400 million reais, they said, adding that the companies will have to seek at least the remaining 30%, or 1.2 billion reais, from investment funds via capital markets.

Azul SA, Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA and Latam Airlines Group SA can seek the aid, the people said. The companies will use local bonds and warrants to raise funds, and the price for the shares on the warrant and the dilution to current shareholders is different for each firm, the people said.

Unlike its peers, Latam doesn’t have shares traded in the Brazilian stock exchange, which has complicated the talks. The Santiago-based airline will have to prove to creditors it has a certain liquidity threshold and give its Brazilian lenders enough legal safeties to make them comfortable with the transaction, one of the people said.

The companies will hire banks to coordinate capital market transactions that will fix price, yields and volume through a book-building process, the people said. Each company will be allowed to raise as much as 2 billion reais total funding through the program. The warrants and the local bonds could be traded on the secondary markets separately, one person said.

Gol, Azul, Latam and BNDES declined to comment. On Thursday, Azul’s Chief Executive Officer John Rodgerson told analysts in a conference call that the company will hold a meeting with BNDES to better understand the structure of the 4-billion real aid package.

Brazilian companies are struggling to overcome the effects of the pandemic that’s wreaking havoc in Latin America’s largest economy. On Wednesday, the government cut its official GDP outlook to -4.7%, though some forecasts point to a 7% contraction. Airlines are among the hardest-hit, grappling not just with grounded planes because of the disease, but also a currency that’s down more than 30% this year. Gol saw departures sink 94% last month, while Azul reported a first quarter loss of 6.14 billion reais.

BNDES, the government development bank, is spearheading the effort to support companies with revenue of at least 300 million reais in industries including “non-food” retail and auto, power and airline companies, Chief Executive Officer Gustavo Montezano said last month in a video conference with executives at Itau Unibanco Holding SA. The lender is organizing syndicated loans in a partnership with banks, including ones not owned by the state, in order to save money for the government, he said, adding the loans won’t be subsidized to lower interest rates.

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