The Agency for the Management of State Assets has agreed to sell 100% of the shares of the National Interbank Processing Center, which oversees the Humo payment service.
The privatization of the company began in mid-July with the assistance of consultants from Deloitte. Out of 6 candidates allowed to submit binding commercial proposals, 3 companies submitted their applications within the specified timeframe.
The proposal from Paynet was recognized as the best, valuing the asset at $65 million. This amount falls within the indicative price range according to Deloitte and exceeds KPMG's valuation, noted the Agency for the Management of State Assets.
The buyer has committed to ensuring the stable and uninterrupted operation of Humo, as well as protecting the confidential information of users. The results of the bidding were approved by a decision of the State Commission for Privatization.
History of Humo
The National Interbank Processing Center was established in 2018, and in the spring of the following year, the Humo payment system it manages began operations. In 2021, it entered into a cooperation agreement with Uzcard and started integrating infrastructure.
Since the summer of 2023, 6,400 Humo ATMs accept Uzcard bank cards on a mutual basis. Work is currently underway to integrate payment terminals, which has already reached the public testing stage.
In May of this year, the NMPC underwent reorganization as a joint-stock company and placed 155,448,748 ordinary shares with a nominal value of 1,000 sums. Prior to this, in April, Shavkat Mirziyoyev approved a privatization program that involves the sale of the state stake in Humo.
The Kazakh fintech group Kaspi expressed interest in purchasing Humo. Its co-founder Mikhail Lomtadze stated plans to develop the business model and enhance it with experience in payment technologies. However, in November, Kaspi withdrew from the privatization process.
According to estimates from experts surveyed by Spot, the minimum value of Humo ranges from $60 to $80 million. Akmalhon Ortikov, head of the Agency for the Management of State Assets, noted that the valuations are "very close to the truth."
The Paynet service, created by Botir Arifjanov in 2005, was later sold to the state-owned People's Bank. In the fall of 2023, the company was privatized, with changes in its founders only becoming apparent in the spring of 2023.
The new owner became the firm New Industrial Technologies, of which 40% was owned by the majority shareholder of Asia Alliance Bank, Mustafa Abdurakhmanov. In May, Paynet was transformed into a joint-stock company in accordance with the requirements for payment services.
Earlier, Spot reported that the Indian payment system UPI plans to integrate with Humo and Uzcard.