The Public Investment Fund is in talks to buy a stake in Saudi Arabia’s “Flynas” to boost the kingdom’s tourism sector, according to informed sources of Bloomberg.
Sources told Bloomberg, on condition of anonymity because the information is not public, that Goldman Sachs is advising shareholders on the potential sale of the PIF.
Flynas, a low-cost airline, is partly owned by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Company, in which the Public Investment Fund bought a 17% stake last year.
One of the sources told the agency, “Flynas” was planning a possible listing, and the offering may be delayed, if the stake sale to PIF continues.
Bloomberg News reported that the company had been considering an IPO since 2008, and in 2018 it agreed with both Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. and NCB Capital for a potential deal.
Flynas, Goldman Sachs and the Public Investment Fund declined to comment. Representatives for Kingdom Holding could not immediately be reached for comment.
And last February, the Saudi airline, Flynas, said that it had received the latest Airbus A320neo, among 19 aircraft that will join its fleet in 2023.
The company added that this brings the size of its fleet to 44 aircraft.
The company indicated that its board of directors agreed to increase its orders for the purchase of aircraft to 250 new aircraft, so that the air carrier would be “the largest low-cost airline in the Middle East and North Africa.”
