Brazilian airline Gol hires PJT Partners as financial adviser

Gol said Monday it has hired US-based PJT Partners as a financial adviser, as the country’s deep economic recession is hurting demand for air travel. Gol said it hired “PJT Partners to advise the company in connection with measures to strengthen its capital structure and liquidity and to improve the profile of its debt.” In February, Moody’s downgraded its rating on Gol because the airline faces a cash crunch in coming months as debt payments come due. Moody’s cut Gol’s corporate family rating to Caa1 from B3 and its foreign currency rating for Gol Finance’s perpetual notes and senior notes due in 2017 to Caa2 from B3. Brazil’s weak economy has hurt sales, and the company’s traffic fell 9% in Q4 from a year earlier. After contracting 3.8% last year, Brazil’s economy is expected to shrink 3.66% this year. <br/>