(Bloomberg) -- Fintech billionaire Vyacheslav Kim is weighing the purchase of a top Kazakh bank that was acquired with his help by the current owner last year, according to people familiar with the matter.
If a deal goes ahead, Kim would get control of First Heartland Jusan Bank JSC after buying out Galimzhan Yessenov, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private details. There is a chance no agreement will be reached or another strategic investor may be found, the people said.
The businessman, who is a shareholder and chairman of Kaspi.kz JSC, had provided the financial backing for a deal last year that helped resolve the biggest asset dispute since Nursultan Nazarbayev resigned as the country’s first president in 2019. Under the settlement, which included a cash payment of around a hundred million dollars, Yessenov got control of Jusan and other assets from a US-based foundation that used to be linked to Nazarbayev.
Kim, who built his fortune during Nazarbayev’s long rule, has maintained political clout even as President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev moved to sideline many of his predecessor’s allies in the aftermath of the worst riots in the history of independent Kazakhstan, the people said.
The resolution of the dispute around Jusan had a political element as Tokayev’s government has made it a priority to bring ownership of significant assets back under Kazakh jurisdiction.
Kim, one of the country’s richest people, will be better equipped to deal with bad loans given to local businesses than Yessenov, they said. Kim has a net worth of $6.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
There were signs last year that Yessenov was looking to raise cash, selling his 9% stake in the country’s biggest telecommunications operator Kazakhtelecom JSC to Jusan Bank, the people said.
Jusan and its biggest shareholder, Yessenov, didn’t reply to a request for comment. Kim and representatives for Kaspi.kz didn’t reply either.
Jusan Bank’s strategy will be tailored to limit competition with Kaspi.kz in the future by concentrating on extending loans to businesses and collateralized lending to individuals, such as mortgages, instead of retail banking, the people said.
Earlier this year, Jusan hired a former executive of Kaspi Bank, Gulmira Dzhumadillayeva, as its chief executive officer. She was deputy CEO at the bank from 2007 to 2021.
Kaspi.kz, which counted Goldman Sachs Group Inc. among its early investors, listed in the US earlier this year, and has a market value of about $23 billion. Under Kim, Kaspi.kz attracted private equity fund Baring Vostok as an investor and manager, growing from a small bank into the region’s fintech leader with an app used by the majority of Kazakhstan’s population.
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