Icelandic low-cost carrier PLAY Airlines has announced that it will undertake a further share offering in April 2024 to raise capital to fund future growth. This is the latest is a series of public share offerings that the carrier has undertaken since it started flying in 2021. In conjunction with a cash injection received from existing shareholders in February 2024, the new move is widely expected to fund the carrier’s expansion plans.
At an annual general meeting held in March 2024, plans by the airline’s board of directors to go ahead with a further share sale were approved by PLAY shareholders. The offering will see the carrier increase its share capital by up to 1.2 billion shares, each with a nominal value of ISK1 króna ($0.0073). At the same meeting, the aforementioned cash injection from existing shareholders was also given the green light.
In a statement, PLAY has announced that one million shares, at a subscription rate of ISK4.50 ($0.0327) per share, will be used for subscription commitments worth ISK4.5 billion ($32.7 million) from existing shareholders and other investors. A further 111,111,112 shares, also priced at ISK4.50 per share, will be offered in the next public issue, due to take place between April 9 and April 11, 2024. The aim is to raise a further ISK500 million ($3.6 million) to fund the airline’s development over the coming years.
In case of oversubscription, “to secure shareholder equality, current shareholders other than those who have already subscribed for new shares will have priority for subscription,” the airline clarified.
The all-red low-cost carrier previously announced a plan to list its shares on Iceland’s Nasdaq stock exchange by the end of February 2024. However, it has since reviewed this plan, stating that “the uplisting of PLAY’s shares to the Nasdaq Main Market in Iceland is expected to conclude before the end of the second quarter, and the preparation is progressing as planned.”
PLAY flew its inaugural flight in June 2021 and currently operates a fleet of 10 Airbus A320neo family aircraft, made up of six A320neos and four A321neos. The average age of PLAY’s aircraft is just over two years, making it one of Europe’s youngest airline fleets.
During its short life so far, PLAY has quickly become a major player on the European low-cost airline scene. The addition of three new routes to the airline’s network in March 2024 brought the carrier’s eastbound network from Iceland to 36 destinations, stretching from Tenerife (TFS) in the Canary Islands to Athens (ATH) in Greece.
The airline operates a hub-and-spoke network, offering flights between cities in North America and Europe and using Reykjkavik-Keflavik Airport (KEF) in Iceland as the hub in the middle. PLAY´s destinations in North America currently include Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS), New York-Stewart International (SWF), and Washington DC (IAD) in the United States, as well as Toronto (YYT) in Canada.