Sun Country Looks to Raise at Least $100 Million in Rare Airline IPO – Skift

Minneapolis-based Sun Country Airlines has chosen now, during the airline industry’s worst-ever crisis, to go public. The carrier filed its intent to offer shares with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 8, hoping to raise at least $100 million.

The airline offered few details on its plans, with the number of shares and their price to be determined. Barclays, Morgan Stanley, and Deutsche Bank, together with Sun Country’s current owner, Apollo Global Management, are underwriting the offering.

Read Skift’s Sun Country Coverage: Sun Country: Inside America’s Most Unusual Airline

Apollo signaled its intention to float Sun Country more than year ago. At the time, CEO Jude Bricker told Skift the company saw a window of opportunity to go public and “didn’t want to miss it.”

Since then, of course, the Covid-19 pandemic struck and brought the airline industry to its knees. The U.S. government has funneled more than $40 billion in aid to the industry since last March, with more possibly coming.

Sun Country operates mainly leisure routes from its base in Minneapolis to sun destinations. Last year, Sun Country has weathered the pandemic better than most airlines thanks to a cargo deal it struck with Amazon in late 2019.

The last major airline to go public was Virgin America in 2014, although regional carrier Mesa Airlines floated its shares in 2018.

(This story is breaking. Please check back for updates)

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