Iberia (airline) to condone the 150 million dollar debt that Viasa had accumulated to the Spanish carrier in exchange for keeping its fleet composed by four DC-10's and five Boeing 727's. The agreement included a compensation for the staff after the liquidation, which had a cost of 20 million dollars. Regarding Ladeco, Iberia was a minority shareholder (35%) and did not intervene in its management. Initially Iberia had the intention of achieving the merger of Ladeco with Lan Chile, but Chilean antitrust laws prevented it. Later, in 1995, Lan Chile made a major acquisition of Ladeco shares and acquired 57.6% of the
Iberia (airline) on the worldwide scene. The investments started in June 1990 with the buy of a 30% stake in Aerolineas Argentinas. In 1991 Iberia bought a 45% stake in Viasa for $81million and a 35% stake in Chilean Ladeco The airline continued making progress in setting up Europe's first international airline frequent-flyer programme in 1991, with the creation of "Iberia Plus." In 1994 the bad results of Aerolineas Argentinas, which presented a positive balance in its commercial exploitation but nevertheless hid a significant deficit with losses in non-operating activities, led Iberia to increase its ownership participation to 85%. With this increase