The Central Bank aims to raise at least $250 million from the floating which will list part of MEA’s shares on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE). 

Marwan Mikhael, head of research at BlomInvest Bank, said that the global economic conditions are more encouraging to launch the IPO than in last year as worldwide economies have started rebounding and some are reporting growth. “This will  attract more foreign investors to subscribe to the IPO and rate it at a higher price,” he said.

Mikhael said that the Central Bank should accelerate the pace of selling its entire stake in MEA of 99 percent as no central bank in the world owns commercial companies.

Mikhaeal said that by privatizing MEA, competition will be spurred. Competition will help improving the national airline industry by lowering prices and expanding MEA’s fleet as it will have new strategic investors that will inject money in its capital.

“In the 1970s, MEA owned a fleet of 20 aircraft, today its entire fleet is still below this number,” he said.

MEA’s IPO was repeatedly postponed due to unstable political and security circumstances, but Mikhaeal does not expect further delay in IPO plans again in 2010 except if the “security stability is altered.” 

Investors subscribing to the share sale will not be allowed to hold in excess of one percent stake in MEA to guarantee a wider subscription from the private sector, according to Salameh.

“This is due to that the sale of only a 25 percent stake will not probably attract large strategic (foreign) investors, but mainly individual investors,” said Mikhaeal.

Mikhael said he expects the share sale to attract an overwhelming interest knowing that MEA is making good profits in the middle of a ravaged global airline industry that has not fully recovered yet.

However, he said that any oversubscription in the IPO depends on its overall “price” which is still to be determined by the Central Bank.