Air Astana expects to go ahead with London IPO

Kazakhstani carrier Air Astana expects to go ahead with its initial public offering on both the London and Kazakhstan stock exchanges, which will likely come alongside a sale of existing shares and global depositary receipts held by BAE Systems.

Air Astana revealed that it will publish a registration document for an IPO of its GDRs on the LSE, as well as an offering on the Astana International Exchange in Kazakhstan, in the form of shares and GDRs. The offering will include an issue of new shares and GDRs, in addition to the sale of those held by BAE Systems and the Kazakhstan Sovereign Wealth Fund.

Air Astana's valuation was forecast to be as much as $1.0bn, based on previous preliminary estimates, which would net BAE a considerable windfall on its 49% stake, said to be valued at approximately £63.0m.

Chief executive Peter Foster said: "Our intention to list in London and Kazakhstan demonstrates the strong foundations of the Air Astana Group and the exciting prospects to increase air travel across our key markets.

"We are confident that the initial public offering will accelerate the next stage of growth for the Air Astana Group, and we see significant opportunities to thicken our existing routes and expand into new geographic areas, supported by our continued fleet expansion plan and initiatives to increase operational flexibility."

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com