sale any time soon, chairmanand majority shareholder David Speakman said.In aninterview with this news service at the end of 2010, Speakman said a sale to astrategic investor could take place in around 18 months. However, such plansare no longer on the companys radar, he emphasised.TravelCounsellors is happy with its current growth rate, expected to reach 15% thisyear, he said, referring to his trust in the current directors of the companyto carry on growing the business in the future. Two of Speakmans children arealso involved in the management of the business, he said.However, thepossibility of an IPO in the long term could be assessed, managing directorSteve Byrne said without specifying further.TravelCounsellors has a GBP 350m turnover and expects to reach GBP 400m by the end ofthis year. EBITDA stood at GBP 6m in 2012.TravelCounsellors is focused on growing organically and remains opportunistic aboutacquisitions and joint venture agreements to continue expanding itsinternational footprint, the executives said. The company is not activelylooking for targets or partners but would entertain such opportunities ifapproached by interested parties.Besidesenhancing its presence in existing markets such as Ireland, the Netherlands,Canada, Australia, South Africa and the UAE, Travel Counsellors would beinterested in expanding in other main markets in Asia and Europe, as well as inBrazil, where it could look to enter through a JV agreement, Byrne said.Their mostrecent overseas office was opened in Dubai via a 50:50 JV with dnata, a localair services provider. The newly formed company has 20 travel agents, Byrnesaid.Future potentialJV structures would depend on the legal framework of the specific market, Byrnesaid. Travel Counsellors generates the bulk of its turnoverfrom UK operations, accounting for GBP 250m, and the rest for overseasoperations, Byrne said. South Africa and Australia are its biggest foreigndivisions, delivering around GBP 30m each, he added.The companyhas more than 1,200 travel agents throughout their home and foreign offices.Value USD 545m (turnover). Proprietary Intelligence. LatAm Morning Flash: Corruption scandal hits Kirchner; Lojas Americanas'ugly moment An avalanche of corruption accusations has beentormenting Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner over the last couple ofweeks. The accusations, made by journalist Jorge Lanata in his weekly TV showPeriodismo Para Todos, involve government officials, pro-Kirchner businessmenand even Cristina's deceased husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, and aretainting the largest infrastructure work devised in the Kirchner era.Lanata, aidedby testimonies and documents, unveiled a shady plot behind a USD 4bnhydroelectric project in the province of Santa Cruz, Nestor Kirchner's nativeprovince, which he governed for 12 years before being elected president in2003.The project,first baptized Condor Cliff-La Barrancosa, was publicly launched by NestorKirchner in 2007. The idea was to build two dams in the Santa Cruz river togenerate over 1,700 MW of hydroelectric power. A first bid to find aconstruction consortium for the project was launched in 2008 but was canceledwhen the world financial crisis hit. In 2010, a second bid was conducted andthis time a group made up of IMPSA, Camargo Correa and Corporacion America(owned by Eduardo Eurnekian) was awarded the contract after offering to pay ARS16bn (USD 4bn at that moment).The offeredprice was criticized by opposition politicians who said the group paid a"premium" of at least