An IPO (Initial Public Offering) is the first public offering of a company’s shares, also called an issue. The issuing company issues its shares on the market for the first time, and a wide range of investors buy them.

The IPO allows the company to attract significant financial resources from various investors on fairly favorable terms. Investors receive a small “share” of the company’s business and actually become co-owners of this company.

After entering the stock exchange, the status of the company changes — from private, it becomes public one, and its shares are freely traded on the stock exchange and can be bought by anyone.

SPO (Secondary Public Offering) - public offering of shares owned by existing shareholders. As a rule, to the founders of the company or venture funds.

SPO is an offer of already existing shares owned by someone taken from the secondary market. As a rule, either the founders of the company, that is, the original shareholders, or venture funds, which fix their profits in this way, sell their securities through SPO.

SPO, unlike IPO, does not affect the size of the authorized capital of the company. However, at the same time, such an offering still makes the company public one, that is, one whose shares are freely traded on the securities market. In addition, the number of shareholders increases, which makes the shares liquid.

Privatization is part of the process of denationalization of the economy, which involves a transition from primarily state-directed regulation of production to its regulation based on market mechanisms.

Privatization is carried out to strengthen the foundations of a market economy, and the main idea of this program is to give impetus to the further development of private business in the country.

The list of companies set for privatization can be found on this website (in the section “Privatization by other means”), as well as in Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan of December 29, 2020, No.908 “On Some Issues of Privatization for 2021-2025” (https://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/P2000000908 )

The list of companies planned for IPO/SPO can be found on this website (in the “IPO” section)

Transfer of the Fund assets to the competitive environment, including through an IPO/SPO, is carried out in accordance with Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Certain Issues of Privatization for 2021-2025” of December 29, 2020, No.908 (hereinafter - DGRoK No.908).

In general, the IPO of JSC NC KazMunayGas and Air Astana JSC is scheduled for 2022. In 2023, it is planned to conduct the SPO of KEGOC JSC and IPO of the following Fund Companies: JSC NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, Samruk-Energy JSC (portfolio of “green” assets), JSC NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy and JSC NC QazaqGaz.

However, the exact timing and parameters of the IPO/SPO of these Companies will be determined considering the macroeconomic situation, operational and financial indicators of the Companies themselves, as well as conditions on the capital markets.

After the official announcement of the launch of the IPO/SPO of the Fund Companies, we strongly recommend contacting the Companies from the AIX broker list: https://aix.kz/ru/aix-membership-ru/trading-members-ru/page/3/ and KASE: https://kase.kz/ru/membership/#brokers in order to buy shares of Companies planned for IPO/SPO

The value of the Companies’ shares is formed given the quotations on the stock exchange. As practice shows, when offering shares of companies, a discount is applied to the price in order to attract more investors.

At the same time, it should be noted that according to the legislation, the final decision on the offering shares of the Fund Companies on the securities market, as well as the conditions (price, quantity, structure) of such offering is taken by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan (as the Sole Shareholder of the Fund).

More detailed information will be announced by the Fund in an official manner.

The final decision on the IPO/SPO sites of the Fund companies has not been taken. Please wait for an official statement from the Fund.

The main advantages of IPO/SPO of the Fund Companies are: creation of long-term market value of the Fund assets and Portfolio Companies, improvement of corporate governance standards and operational efficiency, emergence of new sources of funding for the development of Companies, replenishment of the National Fund of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Separately, I would like to note that the IPO of Portfolio Companies of the Fund will have a positive impact on the development of the domestic stock market, improving the investment culture and financial literacy of the population of Kazakhstan.

The Fund is planning large-scale work throughout the country. Explanatory work will be carried out with the population in each region and in most major cities to increase the number of retail investors. The Fund counts on the support of Akimats, social and entrepreneurial corporations, broker-dealer organizations and other financial participants to carry out this work. At the same time, the transactions themselves are planned to be structured using modern technologies. For example, the Fund is considering the possibility of submitting applications for the purchase of shares “online” through existing applications, including second-tier banks. The Fund is currently actively cooperating with local financial organizations to study the introduction of this tool.

Thus, the Fund will make all necessary efforts to involve/participate the maximum number of citizens of Kazakhstan as retail investors during the IPO/SPO of Portfolio Companies.

The privatization plan of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2021-2025 provides for the transfer to the competitive environment of 25 assets of the Fund group, of which 5 assets have been realized (Vostokmashzavod JSC, Kazakhstan Solar Silicon LLP, Astana Solar LLP, LLP MC KazSilicon, Caustic JSC), 11 assets are planned to be realized in in the current year, and the remaining 9 assets – in 2023-2025.

In addition, at the moment, as part of the Fund reform, work is being carried out jointly with Companies to expand the list of assets included in the current Privatization Plan, with an analysis of each Company for compliance with the criteria for inclusion in the Privatization Plan approved by the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan in February 2022. Based on the results of this work and the approval of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, it is possible to include “new IPO candidates” in the Privatization Plan.

At the same time, it will ensure the preservation of the controlling share of the state in strategic assets affecting national security issues (dam-type HPP, stations of national importance, national electric grid, trunk infrastructure, etc.).

The procedure for attracting financial consultants and underwriters for the IPO/SPO of Portfolio Companies of the Fund is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Procurement Procedure of Joint Stock Company “Sovereign Wealth Fund “Samruk-Kazyna” and legal entities, fifty or more percent of the voting shares (interests) of which is directly or indirectly owned by Samruk-Kazyna JSC on the right ownership or trust management.

At the same time, given the existing restrictions, information on the consultants involved is not subject to disclosure until the public official start of marketing with investors. The key criteria for transaction support may be the experience and cost of providing services.

The buyer’s Instructions and other useful materials on privatization can be found on this website in the section “Privatization by other means”.

All the necessary contacts for communication can be found on this website in the “Contacts” section.

The Fund strongly recommends trusting only official sources with reference to verified sources of information, brokers, issuers and statements of officials.