LAN had already announced a financing plan for Varig before GOL announced its own last week. Brazil, like the US and most Latin countries, has ownership rules for airlines, but LAN has worked its way around them in Argentina, Ecuador, and Peru. Likewise, before Varig's demise, GOL was considering a domestic Mexican airline.

If LAN is successful in taking TAM, it would undoubtedly be structured as some sort of franchise or co-ownership - LAN Brasil instead of simply part of LAN (Chile) itself. This is how most of the big foreign investment has been structured in Brazil (i.e. Ford had to set up Ford do Brasil).