Latvia’s national carrier airBaltic aims to raise around EUR 300 million via an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares, Klavs Vasks, Chairman of the airBaltic Supervisory Board, said at a news conference Tuesday.
He indicated that in order to meet all the objectives and targets set out in airBaltic’s business plan, the company aims to achieve its target of around EUR 300 million through the IPO without raising additional aid from the state.
Vasks also noted that the EUR 571.293 million by which the airline’s share capital will be reduced looks large but that the size of the capital does not change the company’s value.
The airline’s CFO Vitolds Jakovlevs explained that the reduction of the share capital is a mathematical process in which the nominal value of the company’s shares of four classes with different nominal values is reduced to the lowest value, namely, EUR 0.1. Jakovlevs added that this solution will not change the shareholders’ holdings in the company’s capital will not change in percentage terms.
Information on the airline’s potential strategic investor was not disclosed at the news conference, but airBaltic CEO Martin Gauss promised that the public would be “positively surprised” once the investor is announced.
As reported, the government on Friday, August 30, agreed at a meeting on August 30 that the state should retain at least 25 percent plus one share in the national airline airBaltic’s share capital after the initial public offering (IPO).
Transport Minister Kaspars Briskens (Progressives) told reporters that the state is currently considering sale of a minority stake in airBaltic before the IPO or going into the IPO, as well as possible participation in the IPO. “One condition that the government agreed on Friday is that the state should retain at least 25 percent plus one share after the IPO, which means having veto powers.
As it prepares for the IPO, airBaltic has decided to simplify its share structure. As a result, the nominal value of all Class A, B and C shares will be reduced to EUR 0.1 and EUR 571.293 million will be allocated to to offset accumulated losses from previous years. Shareholders will not be paid any remuneration or compensation in connection with the reduction in the nominal value of these shares.
Thus, the share capital of airBaltic after the reduction will be EUR 25.179 million, consisting of 251,795,252 dematerialized shares with a nominal value of EUR 0.1 per share. Each share will entitle the holder to one vote at the company’s shareholders’ meeting, a dividend and a liquidation allowance.
In 2023, airBaltic’s audited turnover was EUR 664.289 million, up 33.2 percent on 2022, and the company made a profit of EUR 33.852 million, compared to a loss the year before.
The Latvian state owns 97.97 percent of airBaltic’s shares, while the financial investor, Danish businessman Lars Thuesen’s Aircraft Leasing 1, owns 2.03 percent.
Source: BNS
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