Plans are reportedly being drawn up for a stock market flotation of Flybe. The UK’s biggest domestic airline is said to be lining up a £200 million listing.
The carrier is believed to be close to making a final decision on whether to go ahead with a float with an announcement due in days.
Flybe’s advisers, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Investec, are known to have been working on the potential float for some time, according to the Daily Telegraph.
The airline has stressed that no final decision has been taken. But chairman and chief executive Jim French indicated when issuing full-year results in September that “as and when the market is in a position to give us a sensible valuation, we would look at going to the market”.
Flybe was linked over the weekend with the possible acquisitions of Swiss regional carrier Flybaboo and an un-named Finnish airline.
The carrier is 65% owned by the trust of the late Jack Walker – the former owner of Blackburn Rovers Football Club – while British Airways owns 15% after selling its BA Connect arm to Flybe.