Uzbekistan's National Investment Fund valued at $1.95 bln in IPO

TASHKENT. April 29 (Interfax) - Uzbekistan's Economy and Finance Ministry, which is the sole shareholder of the National Investment Fund (UzNIF), will offer investors approximately 30% of its shares in UzNIF's initial public share offering, the Fund's press service reported.

The offering is priced at $25 per GDR, each representing 64,700 shares, and 4.65 sum per share. Investors will be offered only the shares of the existing sole shareholder. The share sale is targeted at institutional and retail investors in Uzbekistan and some other jurisdictions, while the GDR sale is aimed at institutional investors outside Uzbekistan. The offering of shares and GDRs began on Tuesday and is scheduled to close on May 12 at 12:00 p.m. UK time for international investors and 5:00 p.m. local time for the offering in Uzbekistan.

UzNIF has applied to list its shares on the Tashkent Stock Exchange and intends to list its GDRs on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.

UzNIF has 5,054,262,531,127 shares outstanding and the offer price implies a market capitalization of approximately $1.95 billion. The selling shareholder is offering approximately 30% of the NIF's share capital, according to the statement.

The final offering size will be announced on or around May 13. Cornerstone investors in the IPO include funds managed by BlackRock , Franklin Resources, and Redwheel, as well as two treasury companies owned by the Allan & Gill Gray Foundation. These investors have subscribed to approximately $300 million of GDRs.

Retail investors can order shares through local managers (Alkes Research, Avesta Investment Group, and Bluestone Financial Group Inc) or, for orders of up to 200 million Uzbek sum, through the Jett website and mobile app.

GDR trading on the London Stock Exchange is scheduled to begin on May 18. Share trading on the Tashkent Stock Exchange will begin on the same day.

The ministry intends to grant an over-allotment option of up to 15% of the GDRs for the international offering.

STJ Advisors Group Limited, ScholzvonGleich LLP,and Finasia Capital Ltd. are acting as financial advisors to UzNIF. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and Kosta Legal are acting as legal counsel.

UzNIF was established in August 2024. The Fund, which includes 13 strategic companies, is tasked with increasing the market value of the assets under its management, reforming them, and attracting international institutional investors. The Fund is managed by Franklin Templeton.