LATAM Airlines struggles as synergies disappoint – is it now a takeover target?

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When Chile’s flag carrier, LAN, acquired Brazil’s TAM in 2012, hopes were running high for the combined entity, LATAM Airlines Group. Now, though, at a first glance, LATAM is not too different from cash-strapped Air France-KLM, at least financially – “indeed, the two would make for a great fit,” an M&A banker in London argued this week.

“But hey, if they strike a deal, then you’d probably need a carrier from the US or the Middle East to sneak in at ...