bne IntelliNews – Kazakhstan’s major fintech player Kaspi.kz is working on listing in the US
Kaspi.kz, the major fintech player in Kazakhstan remembered for its 2020 splash stock market debut in London, is preparing for a US listing.
“We see several potential benefits of a US IPO, including an expanded, more diverse shareholder base and increased trading liquidity,” the company was valued at $6.5 billion when it listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the Astana International Exchange (AIX) . in October 2020, said in a statement.
“We have now begun to prepare for such an event, although we remain in the early stages, with any transaction naturally contingent on market conditions,” it added.
The announcement of the U.S. move came as the company on April 25 reported a 52% year-on-year rise in 1Q23 adjusted profit to Kazakh tenge (KZT) 178 billion ($389 million).
The company’s board also announced a proposed dividend of KZT750 per global depository receipt (GDR).
Kaspi.kz’s arrival on the stock market two and a half years ago made it the most valuable Kazakh company ever listed. The net income for the whole of 2022 reached Kazakh tenge (KZT) 309.7 billion.
The UK-Kazakhstan dual IPO coincided with the release of a report by the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) entitled “The State of Fintech in Central Asia: How Kazakhstan Drives the Regional Fintech Industry”.
The company saw a huge surge in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced people to switch to digital services while staying indoors. The Kaspi Super app, said by the company to be the most popular application in Kazakhstan, offers a range of services including bill payment, lending, peer-to-peer payments, an online marketplace and a personal finance management tool.
The app is widely used by merchants throughout Kazakhstan to sell goods and receive payments. This has made it a preferred payment option for Kazakh citizens who prefer cashless transactions.
Besides its online marketplace and payment system, Kaspi also operates an online store that offers direct delivery of groceries and other consumer goods.
Kaspi.kz launched an online travel platform in late 2020, with users able to purchase domestic and international airline tickets. The company has expressed intentions to expand operations outside of Kazakhstan, targeting new businesses in the Central Asian and Caucasus regions.
In March, the firm announced the launch of a program to buy back GDRs, with up to $100 million worth of GDRs to be bought back by the fintech company.
It stated that the four-month program was effective immediately and would run until July 21 at the latest.
The move by Kaspi.kz could represent an attempt to boost investor confidence ahead of its US IPO and potentially increase the value of its GDRs, as the company could reduce the number of shares available on the market to boost prices. .
