Latvian airline Airbaltic is strongly considering a secondary listing in London – a move that could happen by the end of the year, City A.M. can reveal.
Chief executive Martin Grauss told City A.M. the UK capital was one of its top destinations for a secondary listing, alongside a primary listing in the Latvian flag carrier’s home country on the Nasdaq Riga exchange.
“We are discussing a dual-listing and for the dual-listing of course, what is the number one place in Europe, that’s London,” he said. “If you talk about IPO, you cannot not consider London.”
While Grauss stressed that a destination for any secondary listing had not been decided, he added: “I would be very comfortable if London is chosen, but it hasn’t happened yet… [but] it is the obvious place for airlines.”
A float date has also not been confirmed, but Grauss said it could be in the “second half of this year, or in 2025”.
The firm is looking to raise €300m (£252.8m) in equity via the offering. The pre-IPO investor conversations are progressing “positively,” according to the airline, which is currently taking guidance from investment banks on its proposals.
Frankfurt or Amsterdam are also being considered as it weighs up a dual-listing, it said.
Confirmation of a secondary listing in London would be a welcome boost for the UK capital’s embattled markets, which have suffered in recent years amid a dearth in IPOs and decisions by a number of major companies to head to the US.
Despite this trend, Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s flag carrier, opted to list in London earlier this year in what was a hotly anticipated IPO at the time.
Airbaltic reported record annual revenue in 2023 as it carried around 4.5m passengers. It also swung to a €33.7m profit, a rise of nearly €90m year-on-year.