Thursday, November 6, 2025

Aeroméxico goes public five years after filing for bankruptcy

Mexican airline Aeroméxico has executed an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and returned to the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV) after an absence of almost three years.

The airline — which emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2022 — raised around US $300 million from its IPO and private placement, the Bloomberg news agency reported on Thursday.

Aeroméxico’s American depositary shares (ADRs), backed by the New York-based asset management firm Apollo Global Management, opened at $19.16 each on the NYSE on Thursday, up from the IPO price of $19.

Each ADR — of which there are 11.72 million — is worth 10 common Aeroméxico shares.

Bloomberg reported that the NYSE opening price on Thursday gives Mexico’s flag carrier “a market value of about $2.8 billion, based on the outstanding shares listed in its filings.”

In Mexico, Aeroméxico returned to the BMV on Thursday, close to three years after it exited that stock exchange. Almost 27.5 million common shares at a price of 35.34 pesos (US $1.90) each make up the “Mexican offering,” Aeroméxico said in a statement.

Listed under the ticker symbol AERO, the shares increased in value by more than 2% over their initial offering price in Thursday morning trading on the BMV.

Aeroméxico’s IPO on the NYSE and return to the BMV represent a major milestone for the airline.

The IPO and re-listing come more than five years after the airline filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States amid the global downturn in air travel that occurred during the COVID pandemic. Aeroméxico, founded as Aeronaves de México in 1934, continued flying during and after its bankruptcy proceedings.

Who did and didn’t buy Aeroméxico shares?

Bloomberg reported that U.S.-based Par Investment Partners LP bought $25 million worth of shares in a private placement at $1.805 per common share, a 5% discount on the IPO price.

Aeroméxico said that Delta Air Lines, “a current shareholder and Aeroméxico’s long-term strategic business partner, did not participate in the Global Offering and entered into a four-year lock-up agreement.”

The global offering refers to the IPO on the NYSE and the re-listing on the BMV.

US Department of Transportation orders Delta-Aeroméxico alliance to end Jan. 1

Aeroméxico said that it “expects the gross proceeds of the primary component of the Global Offering and the Concurrent Private Placement to be approximately US$178.8 million, before deducting discounts and commissions of underwriters of the International Offering and the Mexican Offering.”

Additional shares will be offered on the NYSE and the BMV in a “secondary offering.”

Aeroméxico said that it “intends to use a portion of the net proceeds from the primary component of the Global Offering and the Concurrent Private Placement for general corporate purposes, including payments in connection with the expansion of its fleet, investments in customer experience infrastructure, and fleet maintenance obligations.”

In September, the U.S. government ordered Delta and Aeroméxico to end their nearly decade-old joint venture by Jan. 1, 2026, due to an alleged “unfair advantage” they enjoy over competitors. The two airlines are challenging that order.

More Mexican IPOs in the US?

Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Aeroméxico’s “long-awaited IPO may be the latest sign that the Latin American country’s recently moribund equity capital markets are picking up steam.”

The news agency noted that the IPO was “delayed last year amid broader market uncertainty in the wake of elections” in Mexico “and constitutional reforms on President Claudia Sheinbaum’s agenda.”

“That same government, and its approach to private investment, is potentially paving the way for a more market-friendly environment after Mexico has seen more delistings than IPOs in recent years,” Bloomberg wrote.

The Sheinbaum administration is aiming to boost private investment in Mexico as part of its ambitious Plan México economic initiative.

Sheinbaum wants to make Mexico 10th largest economy in the world with ‘Plan México’

Bradesco analyst Rodolfo Ramos told Bloomberg that “the conditions for IPOs are starting to be much more favorable” compared to “the last six, seven years,” a period that includes the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, considered less amiable to private investment than Sheinbaum.

In July, real estate investment company Fibra Next completed Mexico’s largest IPO in seven years.

Juan Francisco Méndez, a partner at New York-based law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, told Bloomberg that there could be a “handful of more IPOs from Mexico over the next six to 18 months,” presumably on the NYSE.

His law firm “has seen interest and in some cases preparatory work for transactions in 2026 and 2027,” Bloomberg reported.

“Those deals are in retail, following BBB Foods Inc.’s IPO [on the NYSE] in 2024, infrastructure and real estate, amid Mexico’s need for development and a renewed interest in nearshoring,” the news agency wrote.

With reports from Bloomberg 

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