Japan Airlines to relist shares

January 7, 2012

Japan Airlines (JAL) is planning on relisting its shares in an IPO on the. By September, JAL shareholders intend to sell between 500 billion and ¥1 trillion (6.4b - US$12.8b, 5b - €10b).

If the sale goes into high-end estimates, it will make JAL the largest airline in the world by market value. It will also be the largest IPO in Japan since the 2010 listing of. However, Senri Sasahara, chief executive officer of Innovative Advisor Corp, said “The amount sought may be a bit too ambitious.”

JAL entered protection in January 2010 and was later given a government bailout. When it was delisted from TSE, it cut one-third of its workers, and reduced the benefits of remaining employees. JAL emerged from bankruptcy in March 2011. Since then, it has posted a record ¥188.4 billion (US$2.4b, €1.9b) in profit for fiscal year 2010.

JAL faces growing competition from discount airlines, such as and. In response, JAL entered into a joint venture to form a low-cost carrier with.