Samruk-Kazyna reports high interest in the upcoming IPO of KazMunayGas

According to Almasadam Satkaliyev, head of the National Welfare Fund Samruk Kazyna, Kazakhstanis have sent 128,700 requests for buying more than 8.8 million shares of KazMunayGas (KMG), a national oil company. The value of this set of shares is estimated at $159 million, the official said at the cabinet’s meeting.

In general, the company offered investors to buy about 30.5 million common stocks for $546.7 million. This means that demand from retail investors accounts for 30% of the entire initial offering.

For comparison, when KazTransOil went on IPO in 2012, there were 34,687 requests from individuals for $126.6 million. In 2014 KEGOC attracted $35.6 million from more than 40,000 retail investors.

It is expected that the number of requests for KMG shares could be vastly greater than those cases of «people’s IPO» in 2012 and 2014.

«The number of new minority shareholders in KMG may reach 70,000 people if just 10% of retail investors will take part in this IPO. The total number of participants of the offering will likely surpass 100,000 people,» according to analytics from the Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan.

The announced IPO of KMG has spurred the growth of retail investors in Kazakhstan. The Central Depository reported 48,000 new sub-accounts last month. «We believe that increase in sub-accounts in November was driven by the upcoming IPO of our oil giant KazMunayGas. This caused lots of buzz among Kazakhstani individual investors,» said Board Chairman of the Central Depository Adil Mukhamedzhanov.

The initial offering of KMG is going to include some components of the so-called «people’s IPO.» Unlike the traditional IPO, the people’s initial offering is aimed at providing citizens with an opportunity to become a shareholder of big public companies. To achieve this goal, Samruk-Kazyna, KMG, brokers and stock exchanges have already launched a massive information campaign. When it comes to classic IPO, such campaigns are usually aimed at institutional investors.

KMG stocks will be traded on Kazakhstan Stock Exchange and AIX starting from December 8. On the same day, the stock will also be available at SPB Exchange.