Air Astana plans 2012 IPO

Air Astana CEO Peter Foster said (17-Oct-2011) the carrier is aiming to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in 2012 on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange. Mr Foster said the carrier is in the "first wave" of an IPO process that involves several leading Kazakhstan government-owned companies. He says initially the IPO will be in Kazakhstan but in the longer-term it would "probably" move to expand the listing, possibly to London or Hong Kong. Mr Foster said he attended an investor conference earlier this month in Hong Kong, where significant interest was expressed in Air Astana. The carrier was launched in 2002 as a JV between Kazakhstan government investment firm Samruk-Kayzyna and BAE Systems and has been profitable every year since 2005. Samruk-Kazyna currently owns 51% of Air Astana while BAE Systems owns the remaining 49%. [more - CAPA Blog]