Press room

Halyk Group becoming the market leader by bid count

The biggest airline in Central Asia and the Caucasus, Air Astana, revealed the IPO results on February 14. USD 370 million worth of shares and GDRs were placed by the company. About 42% of the offerings were sold internationally and 58% were sold domestically. The deal concluded with a final share price of KZT 1,073.83, and a price of USD 9.5 for each Global Depositary Receipt (GDR).

This IPO turned into one of the biggest in the investment market's history. Retail investors have made over 60,000 bids¹ for Air Astana shares and GDRs for a total of KZT 97.6 billion (USD 216 million) since January 29. More than 30,000 bids were filed by Halyk Group and its customers, accounting for almost 52% of all IPO bids¹. This initial public offering (IPO) can be deemed a success for the entire nation of Kazakhstan due to the active use of mobile applications and trading platforms of brokers and banks, including Halyk's incredibly useful Halyk Invest application. It also serves as a model for other local representatives of large businesses considering going public.

After the deal, Halyk Group emerged as the most popular platform in terms of the quantity of bids from individual investors. Retail customers of Halyk Group submit more than half of the entire number of satisfied retail bids —roughly 30% of the overall volume—through digital sales channels. More than 22,000 customers of Halyk Group become shareholders of Air Astana. This fact highlights local investors' trust in Halyk Group and the accessibility and effectiveness of the Group's investment offerings. Halyk thus attested to the fact that it is among the major participants in Kazakhstan's retail investment market.

"This is our chance to congratulate Air Astana on its successful IPO. Its impressive outcomes attest to Kazakh businesses' appeal to both domestic and foreign investors. We take great pride in the fact that more than half of the IPO filings were made by Halyk Group clients, demonstrating our prominence in Kazakhstan's expanding financial landscape. Additionally, I would like to express my gratitude to Air Astana and its primary owners, Samruk-Kazyna and BAE Systems, for their trust in Halyk Finance's ability to serve as the transaction's only local coordinator and bookrunner. Thus, in addition to acting as a broker and investor, our group was instrumental in organizing the largest initial public offering (IPO) in the nation, Chairman Umut Shayakhmetova said.

According to Halyk, there was a high level of client activity during the Air Astana initial public offering (IPO). This can be attributed to several factors, including broker and bank marketing campaigns and the streamlined, expedited, and simpler IPO application process. Before, one had to literally get somewhere and manually fill out numerous paper forms in order to participate in an IPO; today, all it takes is a few phone clicks to access Halyk Invest solution of Halyk app without having to get off the couch. 

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Having the largest customer base and distribution network in Kazakhstan, Halyk Bank is the top retail bank. Offering a broad range of services (insurance banking, leasing, brokerage, and asset management services) to its retail, SMB, and corporate clients, the Bank is evolving into a universal financial company. Additionally, the Bank conducts business in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Georgia.

¹ Bids with share price of KZT 1073.83 or higher, and with GDR price of USD 9.5 or higher.