SAO PAULO--Multiplus SA (MPLU3.BR), the frequent-flyer program
that was spun off from leading Brazilian airline Tam in 2010, said
Friday it is seeking to raise about 800 million reais ($410
million) through the sale of new shares.
The offer of an undisclosed number of voting shares by Multiplus
is still being analyzed by capital-markets association Anbima,
Multiplus said in a regulatory filing.
The company also said that it may opt to sell additional shares
beyond the BRL800 million should there be sufficient demand.
Tam, Brazil's biggest airline by market share, was merged with
Chile's Lan last year to form Latam Airlines Group (LFL, LAN.SN),
the region's biggest carrier and one of the world's 10 biggest
airlines. The combined companies expect to save $600 million to
$700 million a year by combining their operations, Latam said last
year. One possible additional source of savings could come from the
merger of Lan Airlines' LanPass frequent flyer program with Tam's
Multiplus, finance chief Alejandro De la Fuente said in
November.
"We're in the process of harmonizing" LanPass and Tam's
Multiplus and are studying a possible merger, he said at the
time.
Multiplus was the first customer-loyalty program in Brazil to
list shares on the Sao Paulo exchange. This year, however, Smiles,
the frequent-flyer program of Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes (GOL,
GOLL4.BR), could also list shares on the exchange. Last month,
Smiles published a preliminary prospectus for its share sale, but
didn't say how much it planned to raise, nor did it specify when it
will carry out its initial share offering.
Gol is Brazil's second-biggest airline.
Write to Paulo Winterstein at paulo.winterstein@dowjones.com
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