Air Astana details IPO plans

Air Astana Joint Stock Company announced (12-Jan-2024) its intention to publish a registration document and its consideration of proceeding with a global offer of an initial public offering (IPO) of its global depositary receipts (GDR) and a concurrent domestic offering in Kazakhstan in the form of shares and GDRs. Should the Air Astana Group proceed with the global offer and the domestic offer, the offering would be expected to comprise the sale of shares and GDRs held by BAE Systems and sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna, in addition to new shares and GDRs. Details include:

• GDRs would be listed and admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange and the Astana International Exchange (AIX);
• Shares would be listed and admitted to trading on the AIX and Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE);
• The offering is expected to comprise a domestic offer, a global offer and new shares to be issued by the company, raising gross proceeds of approximately USD120 million to support the company's growth strategy, and existing shares to be sold by Samruk-Kazyna and BAE;
• The global offer GDRs would be offered to certain institutional investors outside the US, and within the US to qualified institutional buyers;
• The domestic offer securities would be offered to institutional and retail investors in Kazakhstan through the facilities of AIX and KASE;
• In connection with the global offering, BAE intends to grant an over allotment option for up to a maximum of 15% of the global offer GDRs;
• Book building, including price range announcement, and a roadshow are expected to be launched in late Jan-2024, subject to further positive decision of the Air Astana Group.

Air Astana Group president Peter Foster said: "We are confident that the initial public offering will accelerate the next stage of growth for the Air Astana Group, and we see significant opportunities to thicken our existing routes and expand into new geographic areas, supported by our continued fleet expansion plan and initiatives to increase operational flexibility". [more - original PR - English/Russian]