More than a third of investments within the Kazatomprom SPO for institutional investors was raised through AIX

On June 3, 2020, Kazakhstan Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna (“Samruk-Kazyna”) sold 15.9 mln shares (in the form of shares and global depositary receipts) of JSC NAC “Kazatomprom” (“Kazatomprom”) at a price of $13  per share/GDR by way of an accelerated bookbuild for institutional investors through the London Stock Exchange (“LSE”) and Astana International Exchange (“AIX”), thereby raising aggregate gross sale proceeds of  $206,653,499.

• 1,030,815 aggregate amount of Shares were sold through the AIX and purchased by domestic institutional investors.
• 4,333,960 GDRs were placed through the AIX, of which 2,500,000 GDRs were placed to international investors and 1,833,960 GDRs were placed to domestic institutional investors.
• 7% of offering was sold through AIX.

Dr. Kairat Kelimbetov, AIFC Governor stated:

“Throughout the two-year privatization process of Kazatomprom, we’ve been seeing the continued interest of institutional and retail investors for the company. I am pleased to note that Kazatomprom has managed to attract through Astana International Exchange a significant volume of foreign investment, which is important for the state privatization program and the economy of Kazakhstan as a whole.”

CEO of AIX, Tim Bennett, commented:

 “There has been strong support for Kazatomprom’s IPO and SPO from both the international market and the domestic market, through the sale of its securities at AIX. Thanks to the well-coordinated work of the major shareholder, bookrunners and AIX team, Kazatomprom has attracting a broad international investor base.” 

Farkhad Okhonov, Deputy CEO of Halyk Finance JSC, said:

“The institutional placement is definitely a success as we have seen a very solid support from institutional accounts, both international and domestic, reflecting investors’ positive view on Kazatomprom’s equity story and the industry as a whole. Together with the impressive oversubscription that Samruk-Kazyna Fund managed to secure in the institutional global and AIX-based order book within just hours, as well as with the positive dynamics of the price in the secondary market, this should contribute to improve shares liquidity and further enhance investors’ interest.”

Dmitry Brodsky, Managing Director, Head of Russia and CIS ECM, Renaissance Capital, noted:

“Being the first frontier offering since covid-19 within the national privatization program, the sale of the stake in Kazatomprom by Samruk Kazyna saw very high investor demand, ending up several times subscribed with a lot of fresh capital coming in the order book from big investor names both in the international tranche and via AIX. The offering is a reassuring event for the successful implementation of Kazakhstan’s privatization plan and the country’s investment case boosting confidence for more placements as the markets gradually rebound from the pandemic.”  

On 3 June, Samruk-Kazyna also opened a book with an intention to sell approximately 385,000 Shares (in the form of Shares and GDRs) of the Company to retail investors who are citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan solely through AIX. Retail Placing on the AIX is open till 8 June 2020 at 16:00 Nur-Sultan time.

Citigroup Global Markets Limited acted as joint global coordinator for the Institutional Placing on the LSE and Renaissance Capital acted as joint global coordinator for the LSE Placing and joint bookrunner for the Institutional Placing on the AIX, Halyk Finance JSC acted as coordinator and a bookrunner for the AIX Placing.

At the time of the initial public offering in November 2018, Samruk-Kazyna sold in aggregate 14.92% of Kazatomprom’s issued share capital on the AIX and LSE. Following a secondary placement in September 2019, the total free-float increased to 18.72%. With the current secondary placement, assuming the domestic retail offering is exercised in full, the total free-float of Kazatomprom is amounted to 25%.

Reference:

AIX was formed in 2017 within the Astana International Financial Centre development framework. AIX shareholders are AIFC, Goldman Sachs, the Shanghai stock exchange, the silk Road Fund, and NASDAQ, which also provides the AIX trading platform. The exchange operates within a regulatory environment based on the principles of English Law, thus providing a reliable investment environment. The mission of AIX is to develop an active capital market in Kazakhstan and the region by providing clear and favorable conditions for attracting financing to private and public businesses. AIX develops special segments for mining companies as well as infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road initiative. More details: www.aix.kz

AIFC. Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) was established on the initiative of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The constitutional law establishing AIFC was signed on December 7, 2015. The aim of AIFC is to form a leading center of international financial services. The objectives of AIFC are to assist in attracting investments into the country’s economy, create an attractive environment for investment in financial services, develop the securities market of the Republic of Kazakhstan and ensure its integration with international capital markets. www.aifc.kz