Smiles Defines IPO

Smiles, the mileage loyalty program of Brazilian airline Gol, has hired Bradesco, Banco do Brasil, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Itau, Morgan Stanley and Santander for its IPO. The sale is to include all primary shares, according to a prospectus. The timing and size remain to be determined, though a filing now sets Smiles up for a late March or April transaction. All of the proceeds from the sale will go to funding the purchase of the passenger loyalty assets currently held by Gol’s VRG unit. The business that will be carved out to become Smiles booked BRL125m ($63m) in Ebitda last year, after getting BRL164m in 2011 and BRL204m in 2010.