Kcell could list in London for up to £500 million
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Kcell could list in London for up to £500 million

Kazakh operator Kcell is planning to list a quarter of its equity in London for up to £500 million as the company plans to announce its second floatation in a month.

Kcell is reportedly waiting to see what happens with Russian operator MegaFon’s London listing, which has been delayed as it still seeks approval from UK listing regulators.

Kcell’s ownership structure is similar to MegaFon, and its listing is seen as a test for foreign investors in the UK to Russian companies and the rest of the former Soviet Union.

TeliaSonera made the move to take a $1.5 billion majority stake in MegaFon at the end of 2011, and as part of the deal TeliaSonera agreed to sell a 25% stake in the company in an IPO.

The sale to TeliaSonera included a stipulation that the company must issue a smaller stake to local investors in the underdeveloped Kazakhstan stock exchange.

Kcell had revenues of $1.2 billion in 2011, with 12.7 million subscribers, which accounts for approximately half of the Kazakh market.

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