=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2004/07/26/f= inancial1349EDT0130.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, July 26, 2004 (AP) Brazil's biggest airline to buy 10 Airbus passenger jets (07-26) 10:49 PDT SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- Brazil's largest airline, TAM Linhas Aereas SA, will buy 10 Airbus passenger jets to expand its fleet, the carrier said Monday. The price of the deal was not disclosed, but TAM said delivery of the Airbus 320s will take place over a four-year period starting next year. TAM also has an option to buy 20 more Airbus 320s and will decide whether to exercise those options after reviewing prospects for the air passenger market in South America, the company said. The carrier already has 53 Airbus jets. The airline is also exploring raising between $100 million and $200 million early next year in a stock offering in Sao Paulo and New York. TAM currently lists less than 1 percent of its stock in Sao Paulo. Brazil's Rolim family owns 73 percent of the airline's capital, while investment funds hold the rest. Brazil's No. 3 airline, Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, raised about $280 million last month through an initial public offering in Sao Paulo and New York. Most of the money will help finance part of an expansion that could eventually triple the company's fleet of Boeing 737s. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 AP