AirAsia X Bhd, the long-haul arm of AirAsia Group, plans to raise up to RM859.3 million through its initial public offering (IPO) for listing on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia Securities.

The sum is on the assumed institutional and retail price of RM1.45.

NONE AirAsia X, which is slated to be officially listed on July 10, 2013, plans  to utilise about 33.3 percent or RM285.809 million from the cash raised to repay bank borrowings within three months, while another 32.6 percent (RM280 million) has been allocated for capital expenditure over 24 months.

Incorporated in 2006, the low-cost long-haul carrier also plans to use about RM255 million from the proceeds for general working capital.

AirAsia X’s listing will be the largest IPO in Malaysia this year.

The AirAsia X IPO was jointly launched today by CIMB Group chief executive officer (CEO) Nazir Razak, AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes, AirAsia X chairperson Rafidah Aziz and CEO Azran Osman-Rani.

The IPO exercise consists of up to 790,123,500 ordinary shares of RM0.15 each in AirAsia X.

This comprises an offer for sale of up to 197,530,900 existing shares and a public issue of 592,592,600 new shares.

NONE At a press conference later, Azran ( left ) said AirAsia X would continue to expand its presence in North Asia and Australia, through new routes and additional frequencies.

“The company will complement the current routes that the AirAsia Group serves. We are well-positioned to tap into the immense demand.

“We will also be creating hubs for AirAsia X, the most earliest and likely to be in Indonesia and Thailand. We will create new routes from there with aircraft stationed in the hubs,” he said.

The airline now serves 14 destinations across Asia, Australia and the Middle East, with additional flights to commence next month to Busan.

AirAsia X currently operates a fleet of 10 Airbus A330-300s for scheduled services and has also accepted delivery of an additional similar aircraft, slated to commence flying next month.

The long-haul budget carrier is also scheduled to receive delivery of 22 additional A330-300s for the remainder of 2013 to 2017, with a firm order for 10 A350-900s, beyond that.

- Bernama