Tencent buys into Kazakh fintech Kaspi.kz after acquiring ADS from Baring

ALMATY. April 20 (Interfax) - Tencent (SPB: 700), Kazakh fintech Kaspi.kz co-founder and CEO Mikheil Lomtadze, key members of his senior management team and long-term U.S. institutional investors have completed the purchase of 6 million American depositary shares in Kaspi.kz from Baring Fintech Venture Funds.

"Tencent pioneered the super app ecosystem business model, and we have long admired its ability to combine innovation at scale with disciplined execution. We are delighted to welcome Tencent as one of Kaspi.kz's largest shareholders," Kaspi.kz quoted Lomtadze as saying in a press release. "My own investment, together with those of key members of our senior management team, reflects our strong belief in Kaspi.kz's Super App business model, long-term strategy and future growth opportunities," he said.

Other new long-term shareholders include Spice Expeditions, a globally focused fintech investment firm, as well as the university endowments of Washington University and the University of Wisconsin Foundation.

"The combination of strategic, management and institutional capital comes at an important stage in Kaspi.kz's development - strengthening its market leadership in Kazakhstan and expanding in Turkey," Lomtadze said.

Morgan Stanley acted as exclusive financial adviser to the funds on the transaction.

Tencent, one of China's largest technology companies, was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Shenzhen. The company develops a digital services ecosystem that includes the WeChat messenger, online games, cloud solutions and fintech. Tencent is considered a pioneer of the super app model and actively invests in technology and internet companies worldwide.

Kaspi.kz operates online payments, peer-to-peer transfers, personal finance management and online shopping. The company runs three platforms: payments, marketplace and fintech. The group includes Kaspi Magazin, Kaspi Bank, Kaspi Pay and Kaspi Travel. As of April 1, 2026, the company's largest shareholders were Baring Funds (22.3%), Mikheil Lomtadze (23.04%), and Vyacheslav Kim (20.75%).