Legal advisors of Viva Air during the last 12 months previous to its closing, we advised in all possible alternatives which of course involved regulatory and political approach with different authorities. Some of the matters we work on were: Chapter 11 process; M&A; suspension of activities to suspend labour obligations; registration and deregistration of aircrafts; Antitrust process; Administrative Sanctioning Proceedings, Consumer Protection Law; all of them in coordination with Colombian law. It was quite challenging as all these alternatives were sometimes occurring in parallel.
Our knowledge of the industry and our recognition by the authorities of our expertise and seriousness was quite helpful and useful for the client.
This was an iconic case as everything possible was done to rescue the company, which had a very significant market share. However, due to the Colombian authority’s decision not to approve the merger with Avianca, the company had to cease operations.