A strategic investor has expressed interest in shares of Latvian national airline airBaltic ahead of a possible initial public offering (IPO), the transport minister said. Kaspars Briskens at a press conference after a government meeting on Tuesday, without disclosing the name of the investor.
According to Briškens, this is good news, as the investor can take a minority stake in airBaltic and then move forward together towards an IPO. The minister noted that in this case, we are only talking about the state’s share in airBaltic and it is important to agree on the most favorable conditions for both parties.
“In our case, the most favorable conditions are for the Latvian side,” the minister said.
Briškens explained that at the moment he cannot name the exact number of shares that are being negotiated, but it is certainly a minority stake.
“At the same time, we are evaluating the possibility of entering an IPO together with this investor, where he could potentially use the opportunity to increase his stake in the company,” the minister said.
Regarding the public interest of Lithuania and Estonia in airBaltic shares, the Minister noted that there are currently no bilateral or trilateral negotiations underway with these partners.
“In any case, this IPO gives any investor, both public and private, investment funds and others, the opportunity to join this process and purchase shares,” the minister said.
Briškens emphasized that the interest of investors in airBaltic to a certain extent confirms the trust in airBaltic’s business plan, with which the airline is moving forward in its further development and IPO.
Prime Minister Evika Silina She added that on Tuesday the government made a decision to hold an IPO of airBaltic, which could be prepared for the end of this year, and that the strategic investor is a company with knowledge of the aviation sector, but she noted that the offer was received recently and that it is not possible to publicly disclose the name of the investor due to its own interests.
“This does not mean that the state will not retain the majority of shares, but after negotiations, we decided to grant the Ministry of Transport the right to continue negotiations with the strategic investor in order to ensure a successful IPO process,” Silina added.
Previously CEO of airBaltic Martin Gauss In an interview with the LETA agency, he said that the decision on an IPO might not be made before the second half of this year.
Source: www.gorod.lv
