ASTANA – Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s largest airline, kicked off its initial public offering (IPO) on the Astana International Exchange (AIX) on Feb. 15, the AIX’s press service reported.
Following three and a half days of conditional trading, Air Astana’s ordinary shares and global depositary receipts (GDRs) are now unconditionally traded on AIX, representing a milestone for Kazakhstan’s stock market.
According to AIX CEO Assel Mukazhanova, the triumph of Air Astana’s IPO was driven by Kazakh retail investors, with over 29,000 orders received exceeding 100 billion tenge (US$223.4 million). Retail investors accounted for half of the orders.
Mukazhanova highlighted the deepening of the Kazakh stock market and the increasing capacity of retail investors to participate in large-scale transactions.
Air Astana’s IPO marks a significant shift in the dynamics between the domestic and international markets, with the domestic order book surpassing its international counterpart for the first time,” she said.
The volume of orders on AIX for GDRs and shares reached $112 million and 49.6 billion tenge ($110.8 million), respectively. As a result of the allocation, AIX investors have received GDRs worth of $71.6 million and shares totaling 15.6 billion tenge ($34.8 million). Among those, the share of retail investors totaled 56%, while institutional investors – 44%.
The shares of Air Astana are also traded at Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE).
Air Astana locally placed GDRs and shares worth $215 million, with $106.1 million raised via AIX, which comprised 49.3% of the total amount.
At the solemn market open ceremony for common shares of Air Astana on Feb. 15 in Astana, KASE Chairwoman Alina Aldambergen stated that the issuer executed 36,283 orders for the purchase of 45,855,827 shares. 
The total volume of executed orders on KASE totaled $108.9 million, or 76% of the volume of common shares offered on the local market.
Air Astana commenced unconditional trading of GDRs at London Stock Exchange on Feb.14.
Air Astana CEO Peter Foster emphasized the company’s outstanding performance over its 22-year history, culminating in the decision to go public to raise funds for future projects, particularly infrastructure development.
“The company was founded with just $17 million of capital, and there has been no capital increase since that time,” he said. “Now in the public markets we’ve been able to raise $120 million.”
British Ambassador to Kazakhstan Kathy Leach commended Air Astana’s development and success, highlighting the IPO as a crucial step towards “further expansion and growth of this world-class airline.”
