AKIPRESS.COM - Kazakhstan's national grid operating company said on Tuesday it planned to raise $72.6 million in a share offering designed to attract local private investors, reports Reuters.

KEGOC (Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operating Company) will become the second state-run company to launch an initial public offering (IPO) within the ex-Soviet nation's "People's IPO" programme aiming to revive the dormant domestic stock market.

KEGOC plans to sell 10 percent of the company minus one share, the country's sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna said in a statement.

The 25,999,999 ordinary shares will be priced at 505 tenge ($2.79) apiece, with priority given to local retail investors and the state-run pension fund, Samruk-Kazyna said.

"We believe this share price and a combination of stability, reliability and prospects of KEGOC's development will provide a wide number of investors with a unique chance to invest not just in an attractive business but in Kazakhstan's economy as such," KEGOC Board Chairman Bakytzhan Kazhiyev said in a statement.

Order books for the KEGOC offering will open on Nov. 5 and close on Dec. 3.

National oil pipeline monopoly KazTransOil became the first Kazakh state-run firm to go public via a "people's IPO" in December 2012 when it attracted $186 million, also floating 10 percent minus one share on the local stock market.