Brazilian airline Azul files for an IPO to raise $540 million

Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras SA, the Brazilian air carrier created by JetBlue Airways Corp. founder David Neeleman, filed with the country’s securities regulator to sell shares in an initial public offering.

The company applied on May 24 to list preferred shares on the BM&FBovespa, according to an e-mailed statement.

Azul may raise as much as 1.1 billion reais ($540 million) in a primary offering that should take place in the following two months, Sao Paulo-based newspaper Valor Economico reported today without saying how it got the information. The company’s goal is to buy more airplanes and expand the number of flights it currently offers, the newspaper reported, adding that Banco Santander Brasil SA will lead the sale, and Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Itau BBA SA and Banco do Brasil SA will help manage the operation.

The air carrier’s press office declined to comment on details of the deal when contacted by phone by Bloomberg News.

Azul started in 2008 and is Brazil’s third-biggest airline by market share. It has 118 planes, 9,000 employees and operates 875 daily flights, according to its website.

–Editors: Bradley Keoun, Marie-France Han

To contact the reporter on this story: Denyse Godoy in Sao Paulo at dgodoy2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net