Indonesia’s Lion Air may resurrect plans for an initial public offering as earlier as next year, if market conditions in the country improve.
Lion Air founder Rusdi Kirana said an IPO was ultimately aimed at improving corporate transparency at the airline group before he plans to relinquish control within the next five years.
An IPO was originally planned in early 2016 but was shelved due to continue weak commodity prices and falling consumption.
"However if 2016 is still flat, as with 2015, we will postpone again," he said.
In 2014, Lion Air released plans for an IPO to raise up to US$1 billion to fund expansion.
The group’s five airlines, which are Lion Air, Batik Air, Wings Air, Malindo, and Thai Lion Air, have a total fleet size of more than 200 aircraft with 500 planes on order.
Kirana said affiliates within the Lion Air group are looking at the possibility of launching long haul flights to Europe within the next five years.
