- Air Astana hopes to raise $120 million by going public in London and Kazakhstan
- BAE Systems and sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna will both sell shares
Kazakh national airline Air Astana has unveiled plans for a stock exchange listing in London, a rare victory for the British capital.
Air Astana hopes to raise $120 million (£95 million) by listing in London and on the AIX market in Kazakhstan in a bid to help fund future expansion.
The deal will see BAE Systems, which owns a 49 percent stake in the airline, and state investment fund Samruk-Kazyna sell some of their shares.
Kicking off: Air Astana hopes to raise $120 million by listing in London and the AIX market in Kazakhstan to help fund its future expansion
Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Almaty, Air Astana is the largest airline in Central Asia and the Caucasus, with 50 aircraft on more than 90 routes.
In the first nine months of last year, the company carried about 6 million passengers on about 41,000 flights via its own airline or its low-cost subsidiary FlyArystan.
By the end of 2028, Air Astana plans to expand its fleet to 80 aircraft to improve access to major aviation markets such as China, India and the Middle East.
The company also aims to increase ancillary revenues through FlyArystan and capitalize on increasing domestic business travel in Kazakhstan.
Peter Foster, CEO and Group Chairman, said: “As the largest aviation group in Central Asia and the Caucasus, we are confident that our industry position, market position and growth profile provide an attractive investment opportunity.
“This is an important milestone in our long-term strategy and we look forward to welcoming new Kazakh and international investors as shareholders.”
Air Astana will be worth an estimated £750 million after its IPO, which will take place sometime in February.
The move would provide much-needed relief for London’s capital markets, given their struggle to attract IPOs over the past year.
According to EY, there were only 23 IPOs on the London Stock Exchange in 2023, about half as many as the year before.
Analysts have variously attributed this trend to Britain’s departure from the European Union, larger capital pools in the United States, and Britain’s stricter listing regime.
Plumbing company Ferguson, building materials supplier CRH Holdings and gold mine operator AngloGold Ashanti recently changed their primary listing from London to New York.
Softbank also decided to list semiconductor giant ARM Holdings on Wall Street despite heavy lobbying by the British government, while soda ash maker WE Soda abandoned a planned IPO in London, citing “extreme investor caution” in Britain.
Meanwhile, holiday group Tui is considering leaving the LSE and placing its primary listing on Frankfurt’s MDax market.