IPO in Mexicana Airlines Future?

Grupo Mexicana, one of Mexico's two leading airline companies, hopes to seek an initial public offering in coming years if market conditions are favorable, Chief Executive Manuel Borja said Monday.

"Raising capital on public markets is within our medium-term objectives," Borja told reporters after Mexicana's induction into the Oneworld airline alliance.

"I would expect there to be opportunities--and it's a little premature to say- -but in one or two years we could be accessing capital markets," he said.

Borja said that Mexicana, which was controlled by the government until being sold to private investors in December 2005, was adversely affected this year by the local A/H1N1 influenza outbreak as well as the global economic crisis.

Volatility in financial markets has also made an IPO unappealing for the company.

"At the moment we're not working on this specific plan because we don't think the conditions are there," Borja said.

Borja added that Mexicana's membership in Oneworld is expected to increase the company's international passenger traffic by 5%-7%.

With Mexicana, the Oneworld alliance will extend to 750 airports in nearly 150 countries, generating about $100 billion in total annual revenues, according to a Oneworld press release.

(Paul Kiernan - DowJones.com)