SCENARIOS-Possible outcomes of Pinera's LAN stake sale

Feb 5 (Reuters) - Chile's President-elect Sebastian Pinera on Friday approved the promised sale of his majority stake in flagship airline LAN LAN.SN (LFL.N), worth an estimated $1.5 billion. [ID:nN05226505]

The Cueto family, which has the first option to purchase the stake as a joint major shareholder, separately approved a $1 billion capital increase aimed at buying Pinera's LAN shares, and now has 20 days to decide how many they will buy.

Here are some possible scenarios in Pinera's LAN stake sale:

* The Cueto family could seek additional cash via a financial loan to buy all of Pinera's stake in one of Latin America's top airlines. The $1 billion capital increase would not buy them the whole stake, which made Pinera a billionaire and one of Chile's richest men.

* The family could partner with foreign financial groups or another regional carrier to buy the remaining shares if they buy part of the stake with the capital increase. In the deal they would likely have a controlling majority. Some analysts say Brazil's top airline TAM Linhas Aereas TAMM4.SN(TAM.N), which was considered a favorite to buy Pinera's stake, is in no financial position to buy a major LAN stake.

* The Cueto family may buy most of Pinera's stake with cash from the capital increase to secure a controlling majority. The remainder of the shares would be sold in a public offering.

* They could buy all of Pinera's stake with the capital increase and loans, and then later auction some shares in the market. (Reporting by Antonio de la Jara; Editing by Alonso Soto, Dave Zimmerman)