Large Kazakh bank to sell stake in telecommunications company – The Diplomat

Just a year ago, Zhusan Bank, one of the largest creditors in Kazakhstan, bought a stake in Kcell, one of the largest operators in the country, during the sale of mobile telecommunications enterprises. Now he plans to sell it.

The largest shareholders of Kcell are Kazakhtelecom (51 percent), Pioneer Technologies (14.87 percent), Jusan Bank (9.08 percent) and the Unified Pension Fund of Kazakhstan (7.07 percent).

Kazakhtelecom Sales Jusan and Pioneer’s 24 percent share in September 2021. Pioneer, registered in Luxembourg, is linked to Jusan as both ownership structures link to the Nazarbayev Foundationan institution established by former President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

The deal was later. criticized a lobbyist working on behalf of minority shareholders in Kazakhstan, as the announcement of the sale led to a significant price drop in the weeks leading up to the transaction.

Kcell used to be the local brand name of the Scandinavian telecommunications giant TeliaSonera, which infamously owned several mobile operators in Central Asia who were drawn into corruption scandals. Through the investment company Rodnik, TeliaSonera also owned KazTransCom, a major telecommunications provider. In 2018, Telia sold its shares to a group of companies said to be close to Timur Kulibayev, one of the country’s richest businessmen and Nazarbayev’s son-in-law.

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In early 2021, Jysan Ventures, a bank affiliate, acquired KazTransCom to invest in mobile financial services. (Note: Jusan Bank and its affiliates also use the spelling Jysan and Jýsan).

In May 2022, Jusan paid out about 200 million tenge ($410,000) as a result of lawsuit The Unified Pension Fund, which accused the bank of paying less than the market price for the shares at the time of the deal with KazTranscom.

Jusan’s investment in telecom services seemed step to catch up with Kaspifintech giant who registered in London at the end of 2020.

However, on September 12, Jusan Bank announced its I plan to sell its 9.08 percent stake in Kcell.

Nurdaulet Aidosov, chairman of the bank, said the sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna was among several stakeholders who made the offer.

“We give [Samruk-Kazyna] our preference because we value their corporate governance, internal policies, development and reform strategies,” Aidosov said at press conference. Although he declined to comment on the financial details of the deal, he assured that “the deal will be mutually beneficial for both parties.”

Samruk-Kazyna already owns 51 percent in Kazakhtelecom, the majority shareholder of Kcell. From 2018 to March 2022, Nazarbayev’s nephew Kairat Satybaldy. belongs 24% stake in Kazakhtelecom through a company registered in Luxembourg.

Explaining the detention of Satybaldy in March, the anti-corruption agency stated that his arrest was related to alleged embezzlement at the expense of Kazakhtelecom. In April Satybaldy refused his assets of Kazakhtelecom, which returned to the hands of the state.

Speaking at Zhusan’s press conference in September, Aidosov also transparently acknowledged that Kcell is the bank’s largest borrower after it took out a 60.5 billion tenge ($130 million) three-year loan at the end of 2021. The credit line amounted to about 29 percent of Kcell Assets.

days earlier, and bloomberg Sources close to the deal are quoted as saying that the deal would “undo the controversial privatization of Kcell, which has been clouded by suspicions of stock price manipulation.”

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Although young on paper, Jusan’s history goes back several decades.

In February 2019, backed by the Nazarbayev Fund, a financial company known as First Heartland Securities bought Tsesnabank, which at the time was the third largest lender in the country. The name of the bank was later changed to Jusan.

In 2018 and early 2019, Tsesnabank received a state the rescue for a total of $3.4 billion. In March 2019, Nazarbayev unexpectedly resigned after three decades in power.

In 2020, Jusan announced his intention to buy medium-sized ATF Bank, the deal he closed until the end of the year.

After growing in size and helping the government clean up his toxic assets, Jusan seemed ready to venture into a range of innovative services in Kazakhstan’s financial sector. The exit from Kcell seems to be a step backwards, although the bank’s indicators suggest that it continues to penetrate the market.