Air Busan Co., a South Korean budget carrier owned by the country’s second-largest full-service carrier Asiana Airlines Inc., plans to debut on the country’s primary Kospi market this year, hoping to raise up to 600 billion won ($536 million).

Air Busan on Tuesday signed a transfer agent contract with Korea Securities Depository as a kickoff to its initial public offering (IPO) program. The company will hold a temporary shareholders meeting next Monday to gain approval for modification of its constitution before submitting a preliminary application for the IPO to Korea Exchange. Air Busan expects to complete the IPO process by the end of this year at the latest.

It is the third time for Air Busan to seek IPO after two failed attempts in 2014 and 2015 due to opposition from regional shareholders including Busan Metropolitan City that controls a 48.01 percent stake. Asiana Airlines owns a 46 percent stake, with the remaining 5.99 percent by Air Busan in the form of treasury stocks.

Air Busan was founded in 2007 as Busan International Airlines Co. and changed its name in the following year after investment from Asiana Airlines. Air Busan operates seven domestic and 25 international routes.

An unnamed official from Air Busan said that the IPO is essential to enable more aggressive investment and add new growth drivers to cope with increasing competition in the low cost carrier industry.

By Park Dong-min and Lee Eun-joo

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