The 25% listing in Kazakhstan and London was priced at the bottom end of its offer range at $10.50 per global depositary receipt (GDR) and 1.578.68 tenge (KZT) per ordinary share. The GDRs were trading up at $10.60 in early conditional dealings in London today.
This float price at the lower end of the $10.50 to $13.00 range values Kcell at $2.1 billion, lower than Kcell’s $3.1 implied valuation when TeliaSonera acquired a 49% stake in the company earlier this year.
TeliaSonera agreed to the flotation as part of the stake acquisition and will hold 61.9% of the company’s shares after the IPO.
The Kcell IPO also includes an overallotment option of up to five million global depositary receipts.
It is the second IPO for TeliaSonera in recent weeks having also lowered its 35.6% holding in Russian operator MegaFon earlier this month. The company plans to pay down its debts with the proceeds from both listings.
“We are very pleased by the positive response from both Kazakh and international investors to the opportunity of investing in Kcell. In a short period of time, and in a relatively tough stock market, we have managed to successfully complete two IPOs. This increases the value of our stakes in both MegaFon and Kcell, which continues to be one of our most valuable subsidiaries and a strategic asset”, said Lars Nyberg, president and CEO at TeliaSonera.
Kcell shares will begin trading on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange tomorrow. Credit Suisse, UBS and Visor Capital are the joint global coordinators and bookrunners for the IPO with Renaissance Capital acting as joint book runner and Halyk Finance as co-manager.
