(Sharecast News) - BAE Systems said on Wednesday that it has cut its stake in Kazakh airline Air Astana.

The defence firm sold 9m global depositary receipts in a placing at $5.80 per sale GDR.

The placing shares represent about 10.1% of BAE's outstanding shares and following completion, BAE will hold just over 6.1m GDRs, representing a stake of about 6.9%.

The placing was conducted through an accelerated bookbuild, with Jefferies acting as sole global coordinator and joint bookrunner, and WOOD & Company as joint bookrunner.