UzNIF IPO secures over $600 million on Tashkent and London exchanges

The offering took place simultaneously on local and international markets. On the Tashkent Stock Exchange, approximately 47.9 million shares, representing about 3% of the total shares offered, were sold. The shares were priced at UZS 4.65 each, though individual investors placing orders up to UZS 12 billion received a 5% discount, bringing their price to UZS 4.41 per share.

On the London Stock Exchange, the fund sold roughly 1.5 trillion shares in the form of 23.4 million GDRs at a price of $25 per unit. An additional 3.5 million GDRs may be issued within the next 30 days under an over-allotment option. All proceeds from the share sale are designated for the state budget.

Marius Dan, Managing Director for Central Asia at Templeton Global Investments, highlighted the significance of the transaction, noting that this is the first international public offering by an Uzbek company. He emphasized that the move opens new doors for both foreign and domestic investors and is expected to encourage other enterprises within the NIF portfolio, as well as broader Uzbek companies, to access global capital markets.

Conditional trading on the London Stock Exchange is expected to begin today, May 13. Unconditional trading of GDRs in London and secondary trading of shares on the Tashkent Stock Exchange are scheduled to commence on May 18.