BTA to sell banks, insurer, pension fund
ALMATY. Jan 17 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan-based BTA Bank is conducting talks with a potential buyer of Insurance Company London-Almaty, said BTA Bank CEO Anvar Saidenov.
"We are going to sell London-Almaty. We have obtained all required approvals and found a potential buyer. We are negotiating the price," he told a Tuesday press conference in Almaty.
The bank might also sell Ular-Umit Pension Fund.
"We are ready to consider offers to sell our stakes in the banks located outside Kazakhstan," he added.
However, he said, the sale of such stakes can be problematic in those cases where the stakes are being disputed in London courts.
As reported, in September of 2010 BTA Bank completed debt restructuring, as a result of which the bank's debts reduced from $16.65 billion to $4.2 billion.
BTA Bank is currently controlled by National Welfare Fund Samruk-Kazyna (81.48%). The other 18.5% is owned by the creditors that were not affected by the restructuring.
Recently the bank announced its plan to conduct a second debt restructuring.
In 2010 BTA Bank was ranked 16th by assets among the CIS banks and 3rd among the 39 commercial banks of Kazakhstan, according to the Interfax-1000: CIS Banks ranking prepared by the Interfax Center of Economic Analysis.