City Transportation Systems LLP (CTS) has put a 98% stake in SAT Investment LLP up for sale. The starting price of the lot is 9.52 billion tenge. The auction is scheduled for 25 February.
What makes this deal particularly interesting is that among the assets of SAT Investment is Finnград JSC – a factory producing wall panels in St Petersburg.
The enterprise has an interesting history: founded in 2009 by the Finnish company Betset Oy, it initially operated under the Betset brand. In 2016, the factory came under the control of Kazakhstan's SAT Investment and was renamed Finnград.
However, potential buyers should carefully assess the financial health of the asset. If we consider the value of a 100% stake in the charter capital of SAT Investment, taking into account only long-term accounts payable of 1.09 billion tenge, but excluding liabilities to CTS, it is valued at 5.48 billion tenge.
However, the situation changes dramatically when all liabilities are taken into account, including the pledge of property and shares of Finnград JSC – in this case, the company's value is assessed conditionally at 1 tenge, since the debt exceeds the value of the assets.
The total amount of the credit debt of SAT Investment is 7.66 billion tenge, including interest and penalties.
The history of SAT Investment's debt dates back to 2016, when the company took out a loan from Bank Astana JSC. After the revocation of the bank's licence in 2018, a series of complex financial transactions followed, as a result of which the rights of the mortgagee of Finnград JSC's property ultimately passed to City Transportation Systems LLP.
It is worth noting that CTS, the seller, is an entity controlled by the Transport and Road Transport Infrastructure Development Department of Astana city.
For context, in 2023, City Transportation Systems LLP, as the capital's transport operator, found itself at the centre of a scandal related to a lack of transparency in public procurement.
At that time, the company unexpectedly changed its supplier, signing a contract with Tolеm Qyu LLP without a tender, which caused discontent among residents and raised suspicions of violations.