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A Brazilian judge on Monday approved the sale of Varig airline to the employees group NV Participacoes.
"We understand that clarifications were given and financial guarantees presented," Judge Luiz Roberto Ayoub told reporters, referring to the court's requirements regarding the group's 1 billion reais ($444 million) bid for the airline.
The group was the sole bidder at an auction on June 8, offering $449 million for Viacao Aerea Rio-Grandense (Varig). But the bid was well below the minimum price of $860 million stipulated by the judge handling the sale.
Monday's ruling came one week after Judge Luiz Roberto Ayoub asked the workers' group to prove it has the funds to buy the airline and to clarify its proposal to issue debentures to finance part of the deal.
Varig, once Latin America's largest airline, is more than 7 billion reais ($3.1 billion) in debt. It has been operating under bankruptcy protection for the past year.Yahoo! News
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