A second group was considering bidding for Brazil's embattled flagship airline Varig, local media reported Tuesday, a day after a judge set the date for a new bankruptcy auction.
On Monday, Judge Luiz Roberto Ayoub said a new auction would be held on July 12, assuming creditors approved a $500 million offer from Volo do Brasil, the investment group that recently purchased Varig's cargo unit VarigLog.
If creditors approve the offer at a July 10 meeting, the company would be sold at auction two days later.
Under Brazilian law, the sale must take place through public auction even though there appeared to be only one interested party.
But on Tuesday, the Estado news agency reported a second group led by Roberto Lima Netto, the former president of Brazilian steel maker Companhia Siderurgica Nacional, was studying whether to make a $600 million bid for the carrier.
The bid would be made in a joint proposal with U.S.-based consultancy Cinzel Partners, according to Estado.
If a second group does bid they will have to compensate Volo do Brasil for covering Varig's airport fees and fuel costs in recent days in order to keep the airline flying, Ayoub said earlier.
But even with the cash infusion from Volo do Brasil, Varig has been forced to cancel over half of its flights in Brazil and abroad.
On June 8, a group called TGV, formed by Varig's workers agreed to purchase the airline for $449 million as the lone bidder at a bankruptcy auction. But the group failed to raise the cash to cover their purchase, which left the airline in limbo.
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