Korea's largest lender Kookmin Bank has decided to buy a majority stake in Kazakhstan's Bank CenterCredit (BCC) in the largest overseas takeover by a Korean bank to date. Kookmin will first purchase a 30 percent stake in the Kazakh bank for US$634 million. Two years and six months later, it will own a 50.1 percent stake and become the largest shareholder in BCC.

BCC is Kazakhstan's sixth largest bank with $7.32 billion in assets as of late 2007. It has 205 branches and 5,100 staff. A Kookmin Bank spokesman said Kazakhstan achieves annual economic growth of 9 percent based on ample natural resources like oil and natural gas. Prospects for the market are bright, as the country's banking industry grows 50-100 percent a year, he added.

Kookmin has promoted a triangular strategy to make inroads into Southeast and West Asian countries, and members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. With the takeover of BCC, it has secured a bridgehead into the Central Asian market.

(englishnews@chosun.com )