Azul Linhas Aereas, the third largest airline of Brazil, is planning to raise 1.1 billion reais or US$536 million through a share offer in order to raise funds to purchase more planes for its fleet.
According to the Valor Economico newspaper, the share offer would be concluded by July and the company would only be selling preferred shares. The said transaction was confirmed by the Brazilian paper with anonymous sources with direct knowledge of the planned transaction.
When sought for comment on the Valor report, Azul spokesmen were not immediately available.
David Neelemann, the entrepreneur born in Brazil, founded Azul. It is now competing with LatAM Airlines Group and Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes with its offer of low fares and direct routes in underserved cities of the country. Most of its fleet is comprised by E190 and E195 jets built by Embraer SA of Brazil.
Azul is the fourth budget carrier launched by Neeleman. He is best known for the success of JetBlue Airways Corp.
Gavea Investimentos, the asset management company based out of Rio de Janeiro, is one of the partners of Azul. Gavea is controlled jointly by JPMorgan Chase & Co and TPG, the American private equity firm.
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