LATAM Airlines Group, the largest airline group in South America, filed on Thursday with the SEC to raise up to $533 million in a US initial public offering. Rather than submit an F-1, the company filed for a US IPO via a 424B7, and is eligible for an accelerated listing because its shares trade in Chile.
The Santiago, Chile-based company plans to raise $533 million by offering 19 million ADSs (100% secondary) at $28.06, the as-converted last close of its shares on the Santiago Stock Exchange (ticker: LTM). At the proposed price, LATAM Airlines Group would command a market value of $8.5 billion.
LATAM Airlines is the largest airline group in South America, with over twice the number of flights of any other airline group in the region, and one of the 10 largest airline groups in the world by the number of flights operated in the twelve months ended March 31, 2024. It is also the largest air cargo group carrier in South America by cargo fleet. As of March 31, 2024, the LATAM group provided passenger transport services to 148 destinations in 26 countries and cargo services to 166 destinations in 33 countries, with an operating fleet of 336 aircraft, including 20 dedicated cargo freighters. In 2022, the company completed a reorganization process under Chapter 11.
LATAM joins another restructured Latin American airline in the US IPO pipeline. Mexico's Grupo Aeromexico (AERO) filed this past May to raise $300 million but has yet to move forward with its listing.
The company is backed by Sixth Street Partners, Strategic Value Partners, Delta Air Lines, and Qatar Airways.
LATAM Airlines Group traces its roots to 1929 and booked $12.1 billion in revenue for the 12 months ended March 31, 2024. It plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol LTM. Goldman Sachs, Barclays, J.P. Morgan, Citi, Santander, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, MUFG, Natixis, and Larrain Vial are the joint bookrunners on the deal. It is expected to price during the week of July 22, 2024.
