Merrill Lynch Japan Securities and Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities have been selected as underwriters for the overseas portion of the Japan Airlines initial public offering (IPO). JAL is planning to raise between JPY500 billion (US$6.5 billion) and up to JPY1 trillion (US$13 billion) as early as September and aims to submit its IPO filing to the Tokyo Stock Exchange in July.
Meanwhile Turkish Airlines (THY) is to begin acquisition talks with Polish flag carrier LOT, which posted a $17 million loss in 2010. “We have decided on LOT Airlines… negotiations will start as soon as possible” Hamdi Topçu chairman of THY told CNN Turk over the weekend.
LOT operates a fleet of 36 aircraft and flies to 55 global destinations. The Polish economy minister stated at the end of 2011 that LOT would be privatized and that he had wanted THY to acquire it.
This is great news for aviation, if it all goes ahead of course, and comes on the heels of a THY deal last month with Ukraine’s AeroSvit Airlines that provides for mutual flights between Istanbul and several Ukrainian cities. THY also owns 49% of Bosnia-Herzegovina Airlines, and is also interested in acquiring Serbia’s JAT and other airlines’ in the Balkans.
THY is now the dominant force well beyond the borders of Turkey and so long as the airline does not take on rafts of debt in any LOT deal then expansion plans should continue at pace.
THY carried 32.6 million passengers in 2011.