Yahoo Finance Kazakhstan fintech company Kaspi.kz delays $5bn London IPO
Kaspi.kz, a Kazakh fintech firm that was aiming for a $5bn (£4.1bn) listing on the London Stock Exchange, said on Monday that it was postponing its IPO.
The delay to the IPO, which was announced only last month, comes amid fears that Brexit uncertainty has dented the appeal of listing in London.
The payments, finance, and e-commerce company said that “currently unfavourable and uncertain market conditions, particularly in the technology sector” were to blame, even as it said there had been “significant interest” in the IPO.
CEO Mikhail Lomtadze said that London had been chosen for the listing over New York because investors in the city understand Kazakhstan better.
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“We are pleased with the very strong interest shown by investors and their very high level of engagement in the process. However, we've come to the decision that the timing is not the best at the current moment for an IPO,” Kaspi.kz said on Monday.
“We are looking forward to sharing the financial success of Kaspi.kz with public investors in the future.”
Kaspi.kz is part-owned by Baring Vostock and Goldman Sachs.
The Financial Times reported last month that the IPO was expected to achieve a valuation of $5bn, based on the issuance of at least $500m in global depository receipts, a type of certificate used as an alternative to actual company shares.
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That would have made the IPO the largest by a firm from a central Asian company in around a decade.
Announcing the listing last month, Lomtadze said that Kazakhstan was an extremely underpenetrated market.
“The markets are pretty good, capital markets are good enough, and we have fantastic growth,” he said.
Revenue at Kaspi.kz climbed 54% to $203m in the six months to the end of June, compared with the same period a year ago.
In February, Kazakhstan’s KazMunaiGas, the state-run oil and gas giant, also delayed its IPO that could have valued the company at as much as $26bn. It had planned to list jointly on the London Stock Exchange and in Kazakhstan.
