- Halyk Bank to acquire 49% of Uzbekistan’s Click for $176.4 million.
- Click to purchase 49% of Halyk’s Tenge Bank for $60.76 million.
- Partnership aims to expand digital finance services in Central Asia.
Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank entered into a strategic partnership with Click, Uzbekistan’s top fintech firm, as part of its strategy to enhance its presence in the rapidly evolving digital finance industry of Central Asia.
As per Halyk Bank’s press service, the deal stipulates that the Kazakh bank will acquire 49% of Click’s shares for $176.4 million. Conversely, Click’s investors will purchase 49% of Halyk’s Uzbek subsidiary, Tenge Bank, for $60.76 million. The two firms will remain independent but will collaborate closely to enhance their offerings.
The agreement is anticipated to be finalized once regulatory approvals are obtained from both nations. For Halyk Bank, this agreement is an essential part of its strategy to strengthen its foothold in the area. Halyk, with assets totaling $37.5 billion, is the foremost financial group in Central Asia. It currently provides a broad array of services, such as corporate and retail banking, insurance, leasing, and asset management.
Nariman Mukushev, the Deputy CEO of Halyk Bank, remarked on the agreement, stating that it will allow the bank to enhance its financial services, increase its digital ecosystem, and integrate top global practices. “I always believed that strong ecosystems are built globally,” he said.
Click’s CEO, Ulugbek Rustamov, called the agreement a historic moment. “Partnering with Halyk Bank and expanding our work with Tenge Bank is an important step toward offering world-class digital financial services to millions of users. At the same time, Click remains majority-owned by its current shareholders and continues to grow as a national brand,” he said.
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Click presently caters to more than 20 million users in Uzbekistan and is widely recognized for its digital wallets and payment solutions. The SuperApp of the company consolidates a diverse array of services, including payments, insurance, loan repayments, delivery, car services, shopping, and government services. In 2024, Click experienced a revenue increase of 35.3%, with profits climbing by 37.5%, driven by an expanding array of services and 70,000 business associates.
Halyk has invested approximately $1.5 billion in Uzbekistan so far. Following this agreement, the bank's clientele in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will expand to more than 32 million individuals. Combined, the two nations have over 58 million inhabitants and more than 2.6 million small enterprises and sole proprietors.