Capital Group cuts stake in Brazil’s GOL to 4.95%

Capital International Investors has cut its shareholding in GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes (G3, Sao Paulo Congonhas), the carrier announced in a stock exchange disclosure on June 16. The Los Angeles-based company, which is an independent investment division of American financial services giant Capital Group that holds stakes in companies abroad, cut its shareholding in the airline from 5.21% (15.44 million preferred shares) to 4.95% (14.69 million). “This is a minority investment” and the divestment “does not change the composition of the control or administrative structure of the company,” the filing said. According to GOL’s website, the biggest shareholders in the company remain the Brazilian investment fund Fundo de Investimento em Participações Volluto, controlled by the Constantino family, with 22.99%, and Mobi Fundo de Investimento em Ações, also owned by the family, with 36.80%. In a statement two days previously, on June 14, GOL claimed to have raised over BRL2.7 billion reais (USD536 million) in “long-term capital” this quarter, including a recent re-tap of a bond issue and a BRL607 million (USD120 million) capital increase. “As a result, the company has the best balance sheet among all publicly traded airlines in South America,” the statement proclaimed.