Lion Air (JT, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) aims to list on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in the first quarter of 2020 with a flotation of up to USD1 billion, anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters.
They explained that the airline had been waiting for the local market to settle and for the publication of an official Indonesian report on last year’s crash of one of its B737-8 aircraft, before making a decision on its long-delayed Initial Public Offering (IPO).
The report, which pointed to flaws in the Boeing Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), the airline’s maintenance of the jet, and pilot errors, appeared on October 25.
Now looking to the future, the carrier hopes that the IPO will fund aircraft acquisitions, one of the sources said, elaborating: “The Indonesian market is finally showing signs of stability. This is a good time to tap the market.”
In an abandoned IPO in 2016, Lion Air had planned to raise IDR10 trillion rupiah (USD820 million at the time) by floating a 30% stake on the IDX, much of which would have funded its substantial Airbus and Boeing order backlog.
One of the sources told Reuters that the new bid to list could raise between USD750 million and USD1 billion, but stressed that a specific amount had not yet been agreed.
