LATAM Airlines proposes new $2.45b financing deal to US bankruptcy court

LATAM Airlines has presented a new $2.45b financing proposal in the middle of its bankruptcy protection process in the United States, replacing a proposed debtor-in-possession loan that prompted the judge to reject the original plan earlier this month. LATAM, the largest air transport company in Latin America, told the Chilean securities regulator in a letter on Wednesday night that the new debtor-in-possession loan maintained “basically” the structure presented in July. In one tranche, asset management firm Oaktree Capital Management amended the proportion of the loan it was offering to $1.125b from $1.3b originally, with a group of creditors put together by investment bank Jefferies Group providing an additional $175m. In a second tranche, several key LATAM shareholders, including the Cueto family, which controls the airline, and Qatar Airways, changed their offering from the $900m convertible loan previously rejected by the judge amid opposition from other creditors to $750m with $250m additional financing from creditors led by Jefferies Group and $150m from other LATAM shareholders or new investors. LATAM said in its statement that if new investors could not be found, key LATAM shareholders and the Jefferies Group creditors would make up the difference. It also stipulated that both tranches of loans had to be paid in cash, rather than equity as previously in the plan rejected by the judge.<br/>