Air Astana could be worth up to 750 million pounds sterling when it goes to market. This is the Kazakhstan flag carrier’s plan to be the largest float this year in London.
Air Astana, however, has given 50 reasons to potential investors why they should not become shareholders in the airline.
A list of risks alone took up 28 pages in the prospectus of Air Astana ‘s initial public offer of shares, which was published on Monday.
The insecurity that the state of central Asia faces on a geopolitical level is perhaps the most important.
The prospectus mentioned the failed revolution that occurred just two years earlier. The prospectus says that in January 2022 there were protests across Kazakhstan as a result of the removal of the cap on the price for liquefied gas, and the subsequent increase in prices to consumers.
Some commentators reported that the demonstrations were a coup d’etat attempt by dissidents operating in the country. The protests caused damage to infrastructure and public property in Kazakhstan, and many civilians and security personnel were injured.
The proximity of Kazakhstan to Russia, the economic impact that sanctions could have on the Putin regime’s regime and the route network of the airline; the instability of the Kazakh banking system, taxation system, and legal framework.
Wizz Air is also hampered by the fact that Wizz Air uses a lot of Airbus A320 aircraft.
Air Astana has stated that it hopes to raise $120,000,000 through the sale of new shares, or global depositary certificates, priced between $8.50 and $10 each. This would put the airline’s value between $770 and $962 millions.
The Kazakh sovereign fund owns 51:49 of the carrier, while BAE Systems is the result of a botched weapons deal from 20 years ago. BAE and the sovereign wealth fund are yet to announce how many shares each intends to sell.