Tag Archives: IPO

Kazakh capital aims to lure investors with tax breaks and stability

ASTANA, JUNE 16 2017 (The Bulletin) — Through the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), Kazakhstan wants to create a regional centre of excellence that will lure companies to its windswept capital with a combination of tax breaks and guarantees on stability and the rule of law.

In an interview with The Bulletin, Baurzhan Bektemirov, managing director of the AIFC, said that setting up a legal system with English common law at its heart was key to one of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s pet projects.

“We have our own regulatory framework and authority. They are completely new. We are writing new bylaws and there will be more flexibility,” he said.

The plans are ambitious. AIFC and Nazarbayev University will take over the giant site currently being used by EXPO-2017 until mid-September. AIFC will have its own courts, legal and tax systems, all of which needed tweaks to the constitution to impose.

Part of the challenge of creating a financial centre in Kazakhstan, commentators have said, is persuading companies that it is now a reliable place to invest, that their rights will be protected and that corruption, an ailment that Kazakh companies and officials have found hard to shake off, is not going to derail their plans.

Under the plans, financial companies that move to the AIFC will be given tax breaks and should benefit from a stable, investor friendly, regime at the heart of Central Asia that can be used as a launchpad into Russia and East Asia.

“There will be no income tax for 50 years but this is not the main issue, it’s more about stability and how to do business,” Mr Bektemirov said.

At the centre of the AIFC are plans for a stock exchange and the development of a liquid capital market. It will be given a boost by the IPOs next year of state-owned Air Astana, Kazmunaigas and Kazatomprom which are committed to having their primary listings in Astana, although they are free to open a secondary listing on an international market.

“The idea is to conduct IPOs in Astana. This serves two things. It is cheaper and gives local investors better access. It’s weird that local investors have to go to London and pay all these fees to invest locally. Secondly it is about creating a local capital market,” Mr Bektemirov said.

Of course, Kazakhstan already has a stock exchange in Almaty – Kase. It was set up in the early 2000s but the market and investors weren’t ready.

Mr Bektemirov shrugged when asked about it. There are lesson to be learnt but this time it will be different.

“It wasn’t successful because of institutional problems. If you want to build new business, new companies, you need to build new institutions. You can’t rely on old institutions which have their owns problems, are rigid and are used to doing business in a certain way,” he said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Kazakhstan’s Air Astana looks to London for IPO

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ASTANA, JUNE 15 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s national airline, Air Astana, is likely to launch its international IPO on the London Stock Exchange, CEO Peter Foster said at the Astana Economic Forum.

Air Astana and other state-owned companies that the Kazakh government wants to privatise are legally bound to list on the new Astana Stock Exchange, which will open next year, but the destination of a secondary foreign listing has been the focus of debate. Stock exchanges in Shanghai, Dubai and Singapore have all been touted as possible venues for Air Astana, although London has always been favourite.

“The foreign exchange is likely to be London,” Mr Foster told an audience during an AEF session focused on privatisation.

“The window for an IPO will open in Q3 2018.”

Currently, the Kazakh sovereign wealth fund Samruk Kayna owns 51% of Air Astana and BAE Systems owns a 49% stake.

Mr Foster later told the Bulletin that BAE Systems wanted the foreign IPO in London. The aim of the IPO is to double the size of the fleet over the next decade to around 65 planes.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Kazakhstan’s KMG readies for IPO

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JUNE 12 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil and gas company Kazmunaigas is in advanced stages of its preparations for an IPO next year, the FT quoted its CFO Dauren Karabayev as saying. The Kazakh sovereign wealth fund Samruk Kazyna owns 90% of the company and the Central Bank owns the other 10%. Kazmunaigas will list alongside Air Astana and Kazatomprom next year on the new Astana Stock Exchange. There is also likely to be a secondary foreign listing but it is currently unclear where this will be, although analysts have said that London is a favoured option.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Kazakhstan’s Air Astana/Kazatomprom IPOs could be delayed, says Beisengaliyev

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MAY 24 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an interview with the FT, Berik Beisengaliyev, managing director for asset optimisation at Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk- Kazyna said that IPOs of both Air Astana and nuclear agency Kazatomprom could be shelved if market conditions were not right. Kazakhstan has been planning to list both companies in Astana and London in Q3 2018. It has been talking about listing a series of companies for several years but has consistently delayed this. The Kazakh government, through Samruk Kazyna, is 100% shareholder in Kazatomprom. It owns 51% of Air Astana, with BAE Systems owning the remaining 49%. These IPOs are an important test of Kazakhstan’s attractiveness to foreign investors.

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(News report from Issue No. 330, published on May 28 2017)

Kazakhstan says interest is high for privatisations

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ALMATY, APRIL 5 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — A senior official at Samruk Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, said that the up-and-coming privatisations of Air Astana, the national airline, and Kazatomprom, the state nuclear company, were attracting a lot of attention from Western investors.

In an interview with Reuters in London, Berik Beisengaliyev, managing director for assets optimisation of Samruk Kazyna, also said that the Kazakh government had sold off 120 small and medium sized companies. Samruk Kazyna is Kazakhstan’s $67b sovereign wealth fund.

“We saw a very positive mood in the market,” he was quoted as saying. Kazakhstan has been promising the so-called People’s IPO that would see chunks of the country’s biggest companies listed on both the Kazakh Stock Exchange and an international exchange. It has continually delayed the IPOs, mainly because market conditions have moved against sales.

Still, Mr Beisengaliyev said that the sale of the smaller companies would be complete by the end of 2018 allowing the government to sell off what have been considered its top tier assets.

As well as Air Astana, which is 49% owned by BAE Systems, and Kazatomprom, the world’s biggest uranium producer, the more high profile companies slated to be sold off, or at least be partially privatised, include Kazpost, oil and gas company Kazmunaigas and railway operator Temir Zholy.

A third tier of companies are being considered for sale to strategic investors, single high-profile companies instead of the multiple smaller investors attracted through an IPO, Mr Beisengaliyev said. These companies include domestic airline Qazqom, Kazakhtelecom and mining company Teu-Ken Sumruk.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Georgia may sell 25% stake in energy company in IPO

TBILISI, NOV. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Georgian government is considering selling a 25% stake in Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation (GOGC) on the London Stock Exchange next year, a move that would give foreign investors another chance to buy into Georgia.

GOGC is Georgia’s state-owned energy company, administering its oil and gas contracts and also refurbishing and building power stations to generate electricity. Selling a 25% stake GOGC is likely to generate high levels of investor interest.

Georgia’s finance minister Dmitry Kumsishvili said: “The corporation’s 25% stake will be placed on one of the exchanges abroad, in London or Shanghai.”

Georgia’s BGEO Group, which controls Bank of Georgia, and its subsidiary Georgian Healthcare Group are already listed in London.

GOGC controls the North-South pipeline used by Russia to export gas to Armenia and is building the 450km-long East-West pipeline network, that will link its southern border with Azerbaijan to the Black Sea port of Poti. It also owns a 51% stake in the $230m Gardabani power plant, one of the biggest in Georgia, which was opened last year.

Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company SOCAR, which supplies gas to Georgia, has also said that it is interested in buying a 25% stake in GOGC, according to the Trend news agency.

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(News report from Issue No. 307, published on Dec. 2 2016)

Kazakhstan expects delay in state asset IPO

AUG. 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan will wait until 2018 to start selling off state assets in what has been billed for years as the People’s IPO, Baljeet Kaur Grewal, managing director for portfolio investment at Samruk-Kazyna, the Kazakh sovereign wealth fund told Bloomberg in an interview. He said the fund wanted to wait for oil prices to pick up before selling various assets.

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(News report from Issue No. 293, published on Aug. 29 2016)

Boardroom battle for control of Kazakhstan’s KMG EP heats up

ALMATY, JULY 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Intensifying its fight for more control over its London-traded subsidiary KMG EP, Kazakhstan’s state-owned energy company Kazmunaigas increased by 14% its earlier buyout offer to minority shareholders and retracted demands to cut the company’s independence.

Under pressure to boost income from oil and gas sales, Kazmunaigas wants to increase its 58% stake in KMG EP. KMG EP’s assets are more profitable than the assets owned by Kazmunaigas.

The problem for Kazmunaigas, though, is that its initial buyout offer of $7.88/GDR met with strong resistance from independent shareholders at KMG EP last month. The increase to $9/GDR, which Kazmunaigas issued without an explicit explanation, also appeared to attract a withering response.

“An increase in the price of the Purchase Offer would not be consistent with the prior statements made by Kazmunaigas that it ‘is not seeking to acquire any significant additional holdings in KMG EP through this offer’,” the independent directors said in a note.

They accused Kazmunaigas of underhand tactics to try to force more control over KMG EP. Specifically, the minority shareholders rallied against a new corporate governance structure proposed by Kazmunaigas that would reduce independent control of KMG EP. Kazmunaigas wanted to impose a veto against the appointment of independent directors but has now dropped these demands.

The ongoing saga within the most powerful industrial structure in Kazakhstan acts as a rare window on Kazakhstan’s corporate governance culture after a series of high profile scandals ahead of planned new IPOs, including Kazakhtelecom, the state- owned telecoms company.

KMG EP’s GDRs have traded at between $6 to $9 in the past 12 months.

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(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Kazakhtelecom improves corporate governance ahead of a potential IPO

ALMATY, JULY 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Aleksander Klebanov, one of Kazakhstan’s richest men, bought a 24.47% stake in Kazakhtelecom, the state-owned telecoms company, in a move to improve corporate governance ahead of a planned IPO in London.

Mr Klebanov’s Sobrio Ltd, a London-registered shelf company, bought shares from two companies officially owned by Aigul Nuriyeva, the 8th richest Kazakh according to Forbes. She was widely perceived as holding these companies on behalf of Mr Klebanov.

Wary of past corporate governance flops, Kazakhtelecom said the transfer of shares would improve transparency ahead of an IPO.

“The deal was conducted for Kazakhtelecom ownership structure optimisation and transparency purposes in preparation for a possible IPO,” the company said in a press release.

For two years, Kazakhtelecom has mulled over an IPO in London.

Samruk-Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, owns 52% of Kazakhtelecom. Earlier this year, Kazakhtelecom’s subsidiaryAltel merged with Tele2, a Swedish telecoms company, in an effort to boost its mobile profile.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Kazakhstan’s Kazmunaigas wants to gain more control of KMG EP

ALMATY, JUNE 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazmunaigas, Kazakhstan’s state-owned energy company, said it wants to change the shareholder’s agreement at its London-listed subsidiary KMG EP, a move that independent directors said would weaken the company.

Kazmunaigas, which owns 57.9% of KMG EP, released a note that called for an extraordinary general meeting in August, that would change the terms in the so-called relationship agreement, a document that was prepared in 2006, when KMG EP listed its global depository receipts in London.

Analysts have said that Kazmunaigas, which has been hit by low oil prices, may be looking to gain more control of KMG EP, which has performed better than its state-owned parent. By securing more shares and improved terms, Kazmunaigas would also strengthen its position ahead of a prospective IPO in the next few years.

But independent directors at KMG EP immediately lined up to voice their concerns about Kazmunaigas’ plans. They also said that they would resign if they were passed.

“[We] strongly recommend that all Independent Shareholders vote against the Resolutions proposed by NC KMG,” three of the four independent directors on the board of KMG EP said in a joint statement.

The directors also said the new document will “significantly weaken” independent voices in the company’s decision-making processes and the Kazmunaigas offer of $7.88/GDR to minority shareholders “significantly undervalues” KMG EP.

Kazmunaigas said a new deal would improve efficiencies at KMG EP.

And the row looks to be getting more bitter. Kazmunaigas chairman Sauat Mynbayev also said the KMG EP share price could fall by one-third to around $5/GDR if investors didn’t go along with the plan.

“I don’t think the stock price will jump, in fact, if the shareholders decide to go against our plan, it could fall to, say $5/share,” he said.

In effect, the government sent a strong signal to shareholders that it wants to increase control over KMG EP.

If shareholders choose to go against the plan, a bitter battle for control looms.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)