LATAM Airlines Group, the region's largest carrier, said yesterday that it had secured additional financing of up to $750 million, a key step in a bankruptcy protection process the airline initiated in 2020, Reuters reported. LATAM filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. in May 2020 as world travel came to a halt amid the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, it was the world's largest airline to take such action due to COVID-19. The fresh funds announced on Wednesday were obtained for Tranche B of the debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing, the airline said in a statement, "at rates and more competitive conditions than those obtained for Sections A and C, which will allow the group to improve its cost of financing under Chapter 11." LATAM's board of directors unanimously approved the offer, which came from a group composed of Oaktree Capital Management, Apollo Management Holdings "and certain funds, accounts and entities advised by them," the statement said. The proposal must now be approved by the U.S. bankruptcy court overseeing the process. The company said earlier this month it had received several offers to fund its exit from chapter 11 bankruptcy, each of which are worth more than $5 billion.
