Jeju Air Co., South Korea's No. 1 budget airliner, said Tuesday its parent firm is in talks with Singapore Airlines Ltd. to sell part of its stake in the low-cost airline.
  

"It is true that our holding firm AK Holdings Inc. is in talks with Singapore Airlines for a possible sale of its stake in Jeju Air," a spokesperson for the local carrier said.
  

"Neither when the two are likely to reach an agreement nor the size and price of the stake sale has yet been decided," he added.
  

The move comes amid the budget airliner's plans to float its shares on the local bourse.
  

Jeju Air, based on the country's southwestern resort island of Jeju, had announced earlier it is preparing to make its debut on the Seoul bourse this year to enlarge its business and meet the rising demand for low-cost carriers.
  

Once listed, it will be the nation's first budget carrier to be traded on the nation's main bourse.
  

The carrier's holding firm AK Holdings and Aekyung Co., the retail unit of the group, hold a combined 86.23 percent stake in the airline.
  

Shares of AK Holdings on the main local bourse had been bullish early Tuesday morning, but later surrendered its earlier gains to close at 98,700 won ($87.48), down 3.71 percent from the previous day's trading session. (Yonhap)