Kazakhstan's Air Astana raises $120mn via IPO

Air Astana (KC, Astana Nursultan Nazarbayev) will have an injection of USD120 million to spend on its fleet and maintenance after a successful dual initial public offering on the Astana International Exchange in Kazakhstan and on the London Stock Exchange, the company announced in a filing.

The offer was priced at USD9.50 per global depository receipt (GDR), or KZT1,073.83 tenge (USD2.39) per share which values the offer at USD350-370 million and gives Air Astana a market capitalisation of USD847 million. The USD120 million is part of that offer, while the rest of the raised funds will go to the existing shareholders: the Kazakh sovereign wealth fund Samruk Kazyna and BAe Systems (Warton).

The wealth fund will now own 41% of Air Astana shares and BAe Systems 15.3%. Prior to the IPO, Samruk Kazyna’s stake stood at 51% whereas BAe Systems held 49%. The latter reserved the right to sell its shares down further.

Air Astana and its low-cost division, FlyArystan (FS, Astana Nursultan Nazarbayev), have a total of 52 aircraft, ch-aviation fleets data shows, including eleven A320-200s, thirteen A320-200Ns (six of which are out of service), two A321-200s, four A321-200Ns, three B767-300ERs, and five E190-E2s (of which two are parked). FlyArystan operates eleven A320ceo and eight A320neo (of which five are inactive). In terms of ownership, 45 of the jets are sourced from third parties with the remainder owned.

The company has declared a strategy to increase the size of its fleet to 80 aircraft in the next four years. According to a January 2024 presentation, by the end of 2028, the carrier expects three B787s (it has three B787-8s due direct from Boeing (BOE, Washington National) alongside three B787-9s due via Air Lease Corporation), sixteen more A321neo, and twenty-two more A320neo Family jets for both itself and FlyArystan. However, it plans to divest itself of its five E190-E2s and B767-300Fs.

The carrier’s GDRs traded slightly below the pricing on the first day of trading in London on Friday, changing hands at USD9.08 early in the afternoon.