Costa Verde to Scoop up Pinera LAN Stake

The board of Axxion, the holding company through which Chile’s president-elect Sebastian Pinera owns 19.0% of airline LAN, has decided to offer its shares in the airline to Costa Verde Aeronautica, which already holds a 25.0% stake in the company. Inversiones Santa Cecilia, another Piñera-controlled company which holds a 7.3% in the airline, has offered to sell a 2.1% share to Costa Verde. The value of the deal amounts to $1.2bn, or CLP9,099.58 per share. Costa Verde has 20 days to accept or reject the offer, Axxion says in a regulatory filing. Costa Verde recently announced a $1bn capital increase through the issuance of 500m shares. Equity analysts in Chile covering LAN believe the capital increase will be used to acquire the stake in the airline. Axxion shares closed at CLP22,301.00, down 6.69%.