DUSHANBE, July 22, 2008, Asia-Plus — “Kazakhstan’s ATFBank has sold its equity stake in Sohibkorbonk, a private bank in northern Tajikistan, according to ATFBank’s press service. The press service did not give further details of the transaction and name of the buyer.
We will recall that ATFBank owned the controlling stock interest (75.1 percent of shares) in Sohibkorbonk. ATFBank purchased 24.06 percent of shares of Sohibkorbonk in 2006 and later, it increased its shareholding in Sohibkorbonk to 75.1 percent of the total outstanding common stock.
Sohibkorbonk’s head office in Khujand has also refrained from giving any details of this transaction.
Sohibkorbonk was established in Khujand, the capital of the Sughd province in 1999. The bank has 11 branches throughout the country and capital of little more than US $5 million.
Founded in 1995, ATF is a leading Kazakh bank, which has developed into a powerful financial group. It offers a broad spectrum of financial products, including services in leasing and insurance. ATF Bank opened an office in Moscow in the Russian Federation and has subsidiary banks in Kyrgyzstan and the Russian Federation.
In June 21, 2006, Bank Austria Creditanstalt, which is part of the European banking group UniCredit, on June 21, 2006 signed an agreement on the purchase of a controlling stock interest in Kazakhstan”s ATFBank. Some media reported that time that UniCredit Group had valued the bank at $2.175 billion.
