Gol Rises After Selecting Banks to Coordinate Mileage Unit IPO

Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (GOLL4), Brazil’s second-biggest air carrier by market share, rose after saying it has selected the banks it could hire for an eventual initial public offering of its frequent-flier unit.

Gol climbed 0.9 percent to 14.53 reais at 12:07 p.m. in Sao Paulo after earlier advancing as much as 1.9 percent. The stock was the fourth-best performer on the Bovespa index, which fell 1.3 percent.

The airline said in a statement after the market closed last week that its board will discuss on Feb. 8 the banks the company has selected for an IPO of its mileage unit Smiles SA. It didn’t identify the banks or give a date for the IPO.

The carrier is cutting flights, firing workers and seeking to renegotiate terms on 1.1 billion reais ($550 million) of bank debt as it faces rising fuel costs that have led to 1.85 billion reais of net losses over the past six quarters.

Gol gained 3.7 percent in 2012, while the Bovespa added 7.4 percent.

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