Kazkommertsbank places GDRs at upper end of price range.

Kazkommertsbank places GDRs at upper end of price range. The largest Kazakh bank Kazkommertsbank reported that it placed its GDRs at USD 18.5 per unit, which is at the very top of the expanded price range, set at USD 13-18.5 per GDR. During conditional trading, GDRs’ price went up to USD 20.25 per unit. Unconditional trading is to start on Nov 8. During the offering on LSE Kazkommertsbank capitalization stood at USD 5.3bn. The core shareholders of the bank Central Asian Investment Company and its CEO Nurzhan Subkhanberdin sold 45.7mn GDRs (1 GDR represents 2 shares) and raised USD 845mn. The funds are to be used to buy 103.5mn new shares after their issue on the local stock exchange. Kazkommertsbank was founded in 1990. It focuses mainly on corporate clients, but intends to expand to middle-class retail customers as well. Kazkommertsbank assets amounted to USD 10.56bn as of Jul 1, marking growth of 18% ytd in H1/06. The other Kazakh largest banks, namely Bank TuranAlem, Halyk Bank, ATF Bank, CenterCredit Bank and Alliance Bank also think about IPO on the international markets.