Bulat Utemuratov

$2.4 B

In 2007, Bulat Utemuratov received an estimated $785 million when Italian bank UniCredit purchased 91.8% of Kazakhstan’s ATF Bank for $2.1 billion. He used the proceeds to fund private equity investments through Verny Capital. Utemuratov and Verny parlayed an investment in gold producer Vasilkovsky GOK (now Altyntau Resources) into shares of mineral producer Kazzinc. In 2012 and 2013, Glencore plc and the Kazakh sovereign wealth fund purchased those Kazzinc shares for over $1.8 billion. More recently, Utemuratov has invested $400 million in Kazakhstan’s ForteBank and diversified into real estate. The portfolio is held through Verny and includes Ritz-Carlton hotels in Moscow and Vienna, plus Talan Towers, a $350 million complex in the Kazakh capital of Astana. Verny also plans to open a Ritz-Carlton in Astana.

Public and charity activity

In the frame of his mandate of President of the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation, Bulat Utemuratov has developed various charity associations in relation with this sport for Kazakh youth. Upon his initiative, the “Team Kazakhstan” tennis Academy was created specifically to train promising players of the national tennis team. Since 2010, Kazakhstan is regularly ranked among the world’s top tennis nations. From September 2015, Utemuratov has been a board member of the International Tennis Federation.^[4] In 2017, the International Tennis Federation and Asian Tennis Federation awarded Bulat Utemuratov for transcendent merit in the development of tennis in the region^[5]

In February 2014 he founded the Private Charity Fund of Bulat Utemuratov^[6] and he has been a member of the Board of Trustees ever since. The main goal of the Fund is working towards the healthy development of autistic children and providing adequate child support.

Entrepreneurial activity

Bulat Utemuratov is one of the most prolific entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan.^[1] His first large project was the development of the “ATF Bank” and its successful sale to UniCredit^[7] (from 1995 until November 2007). During that time, the bank grew from a small financial institution to a large multi-regional and multi-product financial group with 160 branches. Unicredit acquired ATF Bank for $2.1 billion in 2007 and Utemuratov reportedly made $785 million from the sale^[1].

Subsequent reports suggested that Utemuratov’s stake in ATF had been larger than previously known and that he and family members made more than $1 billion from the sale^[8]. The deal turned out to be a poor one for Unicredit and within a year of acquiring ATF, the Italian bank had written down the value by €500 million ^[9]. Unicredit sold ATF in 2013 for just $500 million^[10].

After the 2009 crisis, the following banks were created: Kassa Nova, the first microcredit bank in Kazakhstan and ForteBank, a business bank. In May 2014, Samruk-Kazyna SWF closed a sale of its shares in Temirbank and part of its shares in Aliance Bank to businessman Bulat Utemuratov. Bulat Utemuratov is a key fund investor (not a shareholder) of Verny Capital^[11] investment group, together with VEON he also owns two telecommunications operators –“KarTel”^[12] in Kazakhstan and “SkyMobile” in Kyrgyzstan operating under the brand: Beeline. In May 2016, he led the list of the 50 richest businessmen of Kazakhstan with an estimated capital of USD 2,4 billion.

Source:

1. forbes

2. wikipedia