Saudi Arabia's flynas plans to kick off IPO this month
RIYADH: Saudi Arabian budget airline flynas, backed by billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, is planning to start a public share offering later this month, it said on Monday, in the first IPO of a Gulf airline in nearly two decades.
The company is offering 51.3 million shares, equal to a 30% stake, to investors, joining other firms in the kingdom in announcing listing plans despite market uncertainty linked to Washington's tariff policies.
Newly-issued shares represent 10.2% of the stake on offer, flynas said in a statement.
"We are well-positioned to benefit from the robust demand driven by Saudi Arabia's aviation and tourism strategy, as well as the strong growth in passenger traffic across the GCC and MENA markets," said chief executive Bander Almohanna.
flynas is set to debut after a years-long boom in the airline industry following the COVID-19 pandemic, and as Saudi Arabia has made tourism key to its domestic economic agenda.
The kingdom, which attracts tens of millions of religious pilgrims a year to holy Muslim sites in Mecca and Medina, has revamped its tourism industry to attract non-religious tourists.
The carrier operated across 72 domestic and international destinations as of the end of last year, when it posted an 8% rise in net profit to 434 million riyals ($115.72 million), it said.
The offering of shares is scheduled between May 28 and June 1, the document showed. Proceeds from the IPO will be used for expanding fleet, network and operational scope and general corporate purposes. ($1 = 3.7504 riyals) (Reporting by Shamsuddin Mohd and Menna Alaa El Din, Writing by Federico Maccioni Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
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