ABSTRACT
This chapter consists of various classes of shares which are issued by the airline in return for a consideration or price. A new issue of shares can either be offered to the public or placed with financial institutions. The International Finance Corporation, the investment arm of the World Bank, helped out by taking KES2bn worth of shares to give them a 9.56 per cent stake in the airline. Smaller or start-up airlines with no access to more conventional sources of capital often turn to venture capital companies. In Europe, banks are becoming more active in this area, but are still reluctant to subscribe equity to the airline industry. The award of 25 per cent of the shares would only be triggered if British Airways' total shareholder returns reached the median of the 20 airline group performance. An initial public offering is the sale of shares to the public for the first time, usually prior to a stock exchange listing.
