Emirates to divest 30 per cent of company through IPO
By Our Corporate Bureau | 15 Nov 2007
Emirates, the largest MidEast carrier, has said that it may go in for an initial public offering, through which it could divest as much as 30 per cent of the company, in order to finance more than $60 billion of aircraft purchases. According to Emirates chairman, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum, though no steps had been initiated in this direction, the intention to do so was clearly there.
According to the Sheikh, the stock would list in Dubai.
Emirates spokesman Mike Simon confirmed the comments and said that Sheikh Ahmed had in the past said the state-owned company would sell shares through an IPO within two to three years. He also said that the timing of such an IPO would be a decision for the government of Dubai.
Emirates airline president Tim Clark said any IPO by the 22-year-old company should value the airline at between $20-30 billion.
On Sunday, the carrier ordered $23.4 billion worth of aircraft from Airbus and Boeing, with options for 50 more planes, valuing the total potential order at almost $35 billion.
With the options, Emirates plans to take delivery of 246 aircraft worth more than $60 billion over the next few years, as it seeks to serve as a premiere global airline.