China Southern Airlines unit to transfer half its equity in mixed-ownership reform

A wholly-owned unit of China Southern Airlines, the first of the country’s state-owned carriers to unveil mixed-ownership reform plans in 2016, intends to transfer half of its shares to bring in two to four strategic investors.

Mixed-ownership reform is an initiative the central government kicked off in 2014 to boost the competitiveness of moribund state businesses through private capital injections.

China Southern Airlines General Aviation, which has the largest helicopter fleet and operating base in the Asia-Pacific region, will also let employees own between 5 percent and 10 percent of its equity, reducing the parent company’s stake to about 40 percent, according to a proposal published on the Beijing Equity Exchange’s website. China Southern is the country’s biggest carrier.