Qatar's Lesha Bank acquires Kazakhstan's Bereke Bank for 65 bln tengeQatar's Lesha Bank LLC announced the acquisition of the share capital of Kazakhstan's Bereke Bank, a former subsidiary of the Russian Sberbank, the press service of the Qatari financial institution reported.“A sale and purchase agreement was entered (on 31 March 2024) into between Lesha Bank and Baiterek NMH JSC for the acquisition of the entire share capital of Bereke Bank in the Republic of Kazakhstan at a price of 65 billion Kazakh Tenge (...) The agreement is subject to conditions precedent that the parties must satisfy in order to complete the sale and purchase transaction, including a preliminary condition for the entry into force of the agreement through Baiterek obtaining the necessary approval.,” a press release from Lesha Bank says. It also states, that this approval has been received.Lesha Bank announced plans to purchase 100% of the shares of an unnamed Kazakh bank from the Beiterek holding on February 14, 2024. Earlier the chairman of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of Kazakhstan, Madina Abylkasymova, announced the interest of an investor from Qatar in Bereke Bank. It was noted that the price of the transaction will be determined based on the assessment of the bank by the Qatari investor.As reported, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, investors from the UAE, Qatar and Georgian banks showed interest in purchasing Bereke Bank.The Kazakh subsidiary of Sberbank fell under US blocking sanctions in March 2022. In September 2022, Sberbank of the Russian Federation sold the bank to Baiterek. After the transaction, the financial organization changed its name to Bereke Bank. In the same month, the new owner of the bank submitted a package of documents to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury to lift sanctions against the financial institution.OFAC removed Bereke Bank from the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) and Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List (SSI) on March 8, 2023.According to the National Bank of Kazakhstan, as of December 1, 2023, Bereke Bank ranked 9th in terms of assets among 21 banks in the country. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX