Latham advises American Airlines on Azul stake
Latham & Watkins has represented American Airlines in fully exercising its subscription warrants in Brazilian carrier Azul, an investment of about US$100 million. The US airline received 31,838,775 newly issued shares and now holds a minority ownership interest in Azul.
The investment follows Azul’s Chapter 11 restructuring and Brazil’s competition authority, CADE, approval of American’s US$100 million investment. American plans to deposit its shares in Azul’s American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program.
The firm’s Latin American Practice fielded members of its Restructuring, Corporate and Capital Markets teams. The corporate deal team was led by partners Tony del Pino, Carlos Ardila and John Slater, together with restructuring associate Jonathan Weichselbaum.
Partner Andrew Sorkin and associate Nikhil Gulati advised on restructuring matters. On antitrust, the team comprised partners Alan Devlin and Tara Tavernia and associates Andrew Paik and Alexandra Clark. Intellectual property advice came from partner Ghaith Mahmood, counsel Arielle Singh and associate Nick Goshgarian, while partner Jared Grimley handled tax.
Pictured: Fátima Eizaguirre,Joaquín Ruiz Echauri,Bernardo Reyes Retana,Francisco Álvarez Campos
Associates Melanie von Staa Toledo and Diego Roberto Guimaraes-Blandon (admitted to practice in Texas only) advised on corporate matters, and associate Emma Gilmore advised on capital markets. Partner Pedro Rufino Carvalho advised on strategic US-Brazil cross-border matters.
