KB finishes payment for Prasac stake purchase

Seoul-headquartered KB Kookmin Bank (KB) on Friday finished paying $603.4 million for a 70 per cent stake in Prasac Microfinance Institution Ltd (Prasac) and plans to buy the remaining stake, the latter said in an announcement on Monday.

The purchase allows KB to include Prasac – the Kingdom’s largest microfinance deposit-taking institution (MDI) in term of total assets – in its subsidiary.

 

KB said it plans to buy the remaining 30 per cent stake in Prasac two years after the transaction and finalise the acquisition, local Korean-language News Briefing Cambodia reported in February.

It announced the purchase of the stake from Sri Lankan-based non-banking lender LOLC Holdings Plc in December, which received approval from the National Bank of Cambodia on January 29.

 

Prasac president and CEO Sim Senacheert said KB’s investment in Prasac reflects a surge in confidence among foreign investors in Cambodia and the MDI.

“Prasac management and staff would like to warmly welcome our new shareholder, KB Kookmin Bank, to drive Prasac to become more effective and efficient in the expansion of financial inclusion in Cambodia,” said Senacheert.

He said Prasac stands as a market leader with the largest operational network among MDIs, strong financial returns, and a proven record of sustainable growth in its loan portfolio and deposit balances.

At the end of last year, it reached $3.11 billion in total assets, had a loan portfolio of $2.50 billion with more than 417,000 borrowers, attained a non-performing loan ratio 0.4 percentage points lower than market levels, and had a deposit balance of $1.78 billion with more than 742,000 accounts, he said.http://https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/kb-finishes-payment-prasac-stake-purchase