JB Financial Group to Acquire Kyrgyz Financial Firms, Enter Central Asia

JB Financial Group is entering the Central Asian market by acquiring two financial companies in Kyrgyzstan. Following its acquisition of an Indonesian specialized credit finance company, the group is expanding its overseas business, with a focus on auto financing.

JB Financial Group said on October 22 that it had decided to acquire Kyrgyzstan-based microfinance company Korky Credit and auto leasing finance company Korky Leasing through JB Woori Capital.

JB Woori Capital recently signed a share purchase agreement to acquire 100% stakes in Korky Credit and Korky Leasing, respectively, from local company Epoke. JB Financial Group plans to complete the acquisition by the end of this year, after obtaining approval from Kyrgyzstan's financial authorities.

After the acquisitions, the group plans to target Kyrgyzstan's retail finance market by combining JB Woori Capital's sales and underwriting capabilities with the two local financial companies' sales networks. In particular, it plans to apply the expertise it has built in South Korea's used-car finance sector to its local auto finance business.

A JB Financial Group official explained, "Kyrgyzstan is a young country, with seven out of every 10 people under the age of 40, and used-car sales are increasing rapidly. We judged that the financial market would grow alongside the economy, as real gross domestic product (GDP) growth has recently exceeded 10%."

JB Financial Group has recently been accelerating the expansion of its overseas business, particularly in auto financing. After receiving approval from the Indonesian government last month, JB Woori Capital is now completing the final steps to acquire KB Bukopin Finance.

In Indonesia, the group is also partnering with Aigen Global, a Korean fintech company that provides rental and lending services to mobility companies Grab and Gojek, to target the local market. It plans to introduce a range of financial products, including loans for electric motorcycle purchases, loans for drivers, and loans for battery purchases.

Once the acquisition of the Kyrgyz financial companies is complete, JB Financial Group will have overseas operations in five countries, up from four.

JB Financial Group began expanding its overseas network in 2016 with the acquisition of Phnom Penh Commercial Bank in Cambodia. It has since expanded into microfinance and retail finance in Myanmar, securities in Vietnam, and specialized credit finance in Indonesia.

With its entry into Kyrgyzstan, the group is set to further diversify its global financial business portfolio by expanding its overseas foothold from Southeast Asia to Central Asia.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.