Alnair raises stake in KKB to over 25%

The UAE-based private equity firm Alnair Capital has increased its stake in Kazakhstan's No2 bank Kazkommerts (KKB) to more than 25 per cent, the Kazakh bank said yesterday. Alnair Capital announced the planned purchase in June. It did not say how much it was paying for the stake.

The equity firm is owned by "Alnair Capital now effectively holds 25.15 per cent of Kazkommertsbank's ordinary share capital," KKB said in a statement.

It said Alnair had also completed the necessary regulatory procedures in Kazakhstan.

Kazakh banking shares have suffered as a result of a global liquidity squeeze, raising concerns about their liquidity and asset quality, but analysts say this has made them even more appealing for strategic investors.

Alnair also obtained "large" stakes in several units of the bank, giving it indirect control of pension funds Ularumit and Grantum and insurers Kazkommerts Policy and Kazkommerts Life, Kazkommertsbank said in the statement.