Alfa-Bank Kazakhstan prepares for renaming

Published (modified )
BCC has completed the acquisition of the Russian subsidiary in Kazakhstan

Bank CenterCredit (BCC) has closed the deal with the acquisition of 100% of the common stock of Alfa-Bank Kazakhstan. Once the bank’s registration is done, it will continue working under the new brand ECO BANK, according to the press service of BCC.

The bank noted that it isn’t going to change credit terms for its clients. Moreover, the new bank is planning to offer its clients a whole range of banking services after it is removed from the SDN list.

«BCC used its own money to close the deal on acquisition of Alfa Bank. The rebranding procedure has already been launched. The bank is going to be Kazakhstanis completely,» the press service said.

On May 4, BBC announced the acquisition of Alfa-Bank’s loan portfolio for $503.2 million. This is about half of the assets BCC has bought from Alfa.

The Agency for regulation and development of the financial market permitted BCC to buy Alfa-Bank just one day before the deal.

«BCC possesses $336.2 million of capital equity and $1.5 billion of highly liquid assets. BCC has presented a five-year plan of further development and we’ve seen that the acquisition of Alfa-Bank doesn’t deteriorate the financial position of BCC,» the agency said.

On April 20, Alfa-Bank and BCC announced details of the deal. BCC also revealed its plan to rename the Russian subsidiary that it bought. Moreover, the bank is going to take everything needed to lift sanctions imposed by the U.S. against Alfa Bank in Kazakhstan. BCC also confirmed its willingness to support the new asset with liquidity. It is necessary to make Alfa-Bank able to deliver its obligations toward deposit owners.

According to the National Bank, as of March 1, Alfa-Bank was 11th in Kazakhstan’s banking sector (from among 22 banks) with $2 billion of assets. Its loan portfolio that day was about $41.2 billion. In 2021, the bank reported $74 million of net revenue. This is the fifth result among 13 participants of AQR (after Halyk, Kaspi, Sber and Forte) and shows 32% growth over the same period of 2020 ($56.4 million).

As of March 1, 2022, BCC was seventh in terms of assets ($50 billion). Its loan portfolio and obligations were about $2.89 and $4.6 billion respectively. At the end of February, the bank’s equity capital reached $324.6 million. In 2021, BCC reported $42.7 million of net revenue. In the first quarter of 2022, this rate reached $12.8 million.

Read also