LAN completed its takeover of TAM – LATAM

LAN, the Chilean flag carrier, completed its takeover of TAM, the biggest airline in Brazil, during the Summer to create a new aviation giant. LATAM, as the company will be known—rather conveniently given its Latin American sphere of influence—serves 150 destinations in 22 countries. Its constituent airlines carried 60.3m passengers in 2011, which puts the new company just outside the world’s top ten, but way above any competition in South America, where it has hubs in São Paulo, Santiago, Lima and Bogotá. Most striking, though, is the total market capitalisation of LAN and TAM, which at $13 billion is bigger than any other carrier’s (Air China in second place has a capitalisation of $10.7 billion).

The deal, which was first announced in August 2010, was approved by antitrust regulators in Chile and Brazil last year. It should deliver synergies of $600m-700m within four years, according to a company statement, with 60% coming from revenue increases and 40% from cost savings. The networks of LAN and TAM appear to fit well together, which just a 3% overlap, says the Wall Street Journal. The two brands will continue to operate in parallel from their headquarters in Santiago and São Paulo, and Bloomberg points to one challenge for the new company: ensuring that LAN’s investment-grade credit rating does not suffer from association with TAM, which only gets a B+ rating from S&P. No decision has been announced as to which airline alliance the new company will join: LAN is in oneworld, TAM in Star Alliance.

South American airlines
LAN, TAM, merger plan
Jun 26th 2012, 11:39 by A.B.