Latin American Economy & Business - February 2017 (ISSN 1741-7430)

United Airlines to buy into Avianca: Avianca Holdings (which operates in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and the Caribbean) and Avianca Brasil say they are discussing a merger, which would also bring in United Airlines of the US as minority partner. Two brothers, Germán and José Efromovich, hold the controlling stakes respectively in Avianca Holdings and Avianca Brasil. Avianca Holdings carried 29.5m passengers in 2016, reporting US$1.1bn in net revenue and US$102.1m in net profit in Q316. Avianca Brazil is the fourth largest Brazilian carrier, reporting H116 revenue of BRL1.4bn (US$448m) and a loss of BRL142.5m (US$45.6m) in the same half year period. United Airlines said it was talking with both Avianca Holdings and Avianca Brasil to “expand commercial and equity partnerships”.