ForteBank has restructured its assets by selling 51% of the issued and voting shares in its subsidiary ForteLeasing. The buyer of the controlling stake in the leasing company has not been disclosed. Details of the change to the list of organizations in which the financial institution holds 10% or more of the shares were published on the AIX exchange, according to infohub.kz.
Recall that in April, ForteBank's board of directors gave preliminary approval to a deal to sell the leasing business. The bank initially intended to sell 100% of ForteLeasing's shares, comprising 4.56 million securities, for 16.59 billion tenge.
The sale of the controlling stake in ForteLeasing comes amid a large-scale restructuring of the financial institution's assets. ForteBank previously completed a deal to acquire 100% of Home Credit Bank's shares, with investments in it amounting to 273.8 billion tenge at the end of 2025. In addition, the bank has planned an additional issue of 4 million ordinary shares with preemptive rights for existing shareholders.
ForteBank ranks fifth among Kazakh banks by assets, with a figure of 5.5 trillion tenge. According to KASE, the majority shareholder of the financial organization, with a 91.43% stake, is billionaire Bulat Utemuratov. The businessman ranks third on Forbes' list of Kazakhstan's richest people, with a fortune estimated at $5.4 billion.
In September 2026, several months after the sale was approved, Kursiv reported that ForteBank had found a new buyer for its leasing subsidiary. The bank's board of directors approved the replacement of ForteLeasing's buyer on June 30, 2026. The name of the new investor was not disclosed.
The change of buyer also shifted the deal's timeline. The sale was planned to be completed by June 30, 2027, whereas it had previously been expected to close by the end of Q1 2027.
It is currently unknown why only a 51% stake was sold when the plan was a full exit from the subsidiary's capital. However, there remains a possibility that the deal will follow the scenario of the Home Credit Bank acquisition.
Recall that ForteBank acquired 100% of Home Credit Bank's shares in several stages in 2025:
June 2025: an agreement in principle was announced for the sale of 100% of the shares.
August-September 2025: interim transfers and consolidation of stakes.
November 2025: purchase of a controlling stake.
December 30, 2025: completion of the deal, with ForteBank becoming the owner of 100% of the shares and the sole shareholder.
Kursiv sent a request to ForteBank to find out the buyer of ForteLeasing.