- JEDDAH: Saudi Arabian Airlines expects to delay, for a second time, an initial public offering of its catering unit estimated to be worth up to $540 million, its top executive said.
“We have submitted our file to the Capital Market Authority and haven’t been given a date yet but most likely it will be delayed,” Director General Khalid Almolhem said.
Almolhem could not give a time frame for the delay.
The IPO, which analysts estimate to be worth between $400 million and $540 million, was initially planned for the third quarter of 2010 and was later delayed to the second quarter of this year.
The Saudi national carrier started the process of privatization in 2006 by dividing the company into six units — catering, cargo, maintenance, airlines, flight academy and ground handling.
It plans to privatise each of the units individually and the catering unit was the first to be privatized through private placements in 2008. It is now waiting regulatory approval to offer 30 percent to the public.
French bank Credit Agricole is advising on the planned IPO.