Airline Acquisition: Brazil’s Gol to buy low-cost rival WebJet

GOL to buy rival WebJet for $61 million.

SAO PAULO: Brazilian carrier GOL, which calls itself the largest low-cost airline in Latin America, said Friday that it reached an agreement to buy rival WebJet for $61 million. The two firms signed a memorandum of understanding to allow Gol to acquire entire capital stock of WebJet, pending regulatory approval. With the deal, Gol would increase its market share of the domestic Brazilian market from 36 per cent to 41 per cent. Gol, created in 2001, operates some 900 daily flights to 59 cities in Brazil and 14 international destinations in South America and the Caribbean. WebJet serves 16 domestic locations with around 1,000 flights per week.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2011.