Temirbank and Alliance Bank sales: decision to be reached this year

The decision on sale of Temirbank and Alliance Bank will be made before the end of the year, Tengrinews reports citing Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Samruk-Kazyna Yelena Bakhmutova. “There have been no changes in the plan to sale the Fund's whole share in Temirbank and 16 percent of Alliance Bank stock to Mr. Bulat Utemuratov. We are now negotiating the official documents. The Fund will make its corporate decision within one months time,” Ms. Bakhmutova said on November 20. According to Ms. Bakhmutova, the deal will be finalized only after the regulators approve the deal. “This is solely the responsibility of the buyer. After that the deal itself will be closed and the payment made. I cannot tell you when exactly it will happen, but we are planning to get the corporate decision by the end of the year,” said Ms. Bakhmutova. This means that after all the procedures are finalized all the stock of Temirbank owned by Samruk Kazyna - 76 percent, and 16 percent of Temirbank stock currently owned by the fund will be transferred to the new owner: Mr. Utemuratov. “Later on they will discuss the possibility of merging Temirbank and Alliance Bank together with the other stockholders. However, this is a matter to deal with in the future and it requires consent of all the stockholders and creditors,” concluded Ms. Bakhmutova. It was previously reported that Kazakhstan billionaire Bulat Utemuratov is negotiationing purchase of Temirbank and Alliance Bank with Samruk-Kazyna. According to Bloomberg, Mr. Utemuratov, is in control of Forte Bank and Kassa Nova Bank, that are Kazakhstan’s 27th- and 29th-largest lenders, with total assets of 80 billion tenge ($518 million). They reportedly reached a mutual agreement to initiate the translation on Temirbank and Alliance Bank stocks held by Samruk-Kazyna National Wealth Fund of Kazakhstan.