Azul's IPO is at a challenging time for economic and traffic growth in Brazil - but offers potential

Nearly five years after inaugurating service, Brazilian carrier Azul is capping off its rapid and highly successful growth with a planned initial public offering. Azul, led by former JetBlue founder and chief David Neeleman has quickly built up a position of strength in the domestic market place through a strategic acquisition it executed during 2012 of fellow Brazilian regional carrier TRIP.

The combination helped Azul flesh out its network and build what it hopes is the necessary scale to withstand the changes its has witnessed in the Brazilian market place during its brief history, ranging from significant growth to a slowdown in traffic expansion as the country's GDP has slowed during the last couple of years.

The timing of the decision by Azul's management to take the company public is interesting given that Brazil's second largest carrier Gol recently warned that inflation in Brazil keeps rising and that it is uncertain if the country will attain its projected 2.5% GDP growth during 2012.

But in making its case to potential investors Azul is attempting to make clear distinctions between itself and Gol by citing yield advantages and merger synergies of BRL200 million (USD96 million) to BRL300 million (USD144 million) during 2013.