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Avianca, one of Latin America’s largest airlines, is emerging from bankruptcy protection after winning court approval for its reorganization plan a year and a half after the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the region’s air carriers, Bloomberg News reported. Avianca, which is headquartered in Bogota, said it is exiting the restructuring process after raising fresh investments of $1.7 billion. It also comes out of bankruptcy with “significantly” reduced debt and more than $1 billion of liquidity, the company said in a regulatory filing. Over the next three years, the 102-year-old company expects to expand to almost 200 routes in Latin America and the world. By 2025, it plans to have a fleet of more than 130 aircraft “with reconfigured, lighter-weight new-generation seats, which will allow Avianca to reduce the carbon footprint of its operations,” according to the statement. Avianca filed for chapter 11 protection in May 2020, after Colombia and other Latin American governments sealed borders and restricted flights in an attempt to control the spread of the coronavirus. Within weeks, two other major carriers in the region, Latam Airlines and Grupo Aeromexico, also filed for court protection.

Latam Airlines Group SA’s bankruptcy-exit plan has divided the airline’s creditors, some of which said a proposed $5.44 billion equity sale would drive too much value to shareholders and other capital providers, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Latam’s restructuring plan, filed last week, revolves around an equity-capital raise from certain unsecured creditors and a majority of current shareholders, including Delta Air Lines Inc., Qatar Airways Group Q.C.S.C. and the Cueto family. Unsecured creditors that aren’t signed up for the equity raise said in a court hearing Tuesday that Latam allocated too much value to the big creditors and shareholders making capital contributions, leaving too little for those on the outside. The stock-buying program would put Latam’s largest creditor group in control of the business, while retaining stakes for its existing shareholders, despite the bankruptcy. “General creditors who are not members of that group get unreasonably low recoveries,” said Allan Brilliant, a lawyer for the official committee of Latam’s unsecured creditors. The terms of the financing deal aren’t yet up for approval in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, where Latam sought chapter 11 protection in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. But lawyers for nonparticipating creditors took the opportunity yesterday to preview possible arguments against the proposed restructuring, which is subject to continuing negotiations and could change.

Chile's LATAM Airlines Group SA said on Friday that it has filed a reorganization plan, proposing an $8.19 billion infusion of capital into the group, in a bid to exit its chapter 11 protection, Reuters reported. The financing proposal will include a mix of new equity, convertible notes and debt, the group said in a statement, adding that it intends to launch an $800 million equity rights offering to shareholders, upon confirmation of the plan. "While our process is not yet over, we have reached a critical milestone in the path to a stronger financial future," said Roberto Alvo, chief executive of the largest airline in Latin America. Recently, LATAM said it received several offers to fund the exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, each of which are worth more than $5 billion. The group filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York in May 2020 as world travel came to a halt amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Upon emerging from chapter 11, LATAM expects to have total debt of about $7.26 billion and liquidity of about $2.67 billion, the company said in the statement. The Santiago-based company reported losses of some $692 million in the third quarter, as the indebted company was still battling challenges from the pandemic. The restructuring plan is accompanied by a support agreement with creditor group Parent Ad Hoc Group and some LATAM shareholders.

With its revenues slashed in half by mandatory store closings in 2020, Solstice Sunglasses sought bankruptcy protection. It now has been able to emerge from chapter 11 with fewer shops and smaller rents, ChainStoreAge.com reported. RCS Real Estate Advisors reports that it was able to help Solstice pare its real estate portfolio and reduce rents by 2/3 in the stores the chain kept. “We believe in Solstice’s future because we now have turnaround plan to remain one of America’s leading purveyors of sunglasses,” said Solstice CEO Mikey Rosenberg. “There’s room in the market for a retailer that makes it convenient and more affordable to buy luxury eyewear." Solstice stocks top designer brands such as Dior, Gucci, Jimmy Choo and Givenchy, ranging in price $135 Carrera aviators to $875 Dita navigators. It currently operates 40-plus stores, primarily on the East Coast and in California and Texas and runs an online business.