SOVICO Group, a Vietnamese investment company, is set to acquire Qazaq Air, according to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The announcement was made during the closing ceremony of the Kazakhstan-Singapore Business Forum.
"I am hailing the privatization of our Qazaq Air by the Vietnamese SOVICO Group as it will be a real booster for air travel between Kazakhstan and the ASEAN countries," Tokayev stated.
The current owner of Qazaq Air, Samruk Kazyna, has been attempting to sell the airline for some time. The first bidding process was initiated in August 2023, with several investors expressing interest. However, the deadline for applications was extended multiple times due to a lack of final bids.
In November, the bidding was declared unsuccessful due to the absence of applications, a scenario that repeated in January 2024. It is noteworthy that foreign investors were restricted to claiming no more than 49% of the company's shares during these bidding rounds.
Qazaq Air was established in 2015. In 2022, the airline reported losses amounting to $14.8 mn, marking a 2.1% increase over the previous year. The company also has an outstanding debt of $85.7 mn to its parent holding, which was due by the end of 2023.
SOVICO Group operates VietJet Air, which captured a significant share of the local market and expanded its international network over the past five years. The group's investment portfolio extends to the banking, real estate, energy, and hospitality sectors.
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