Freedom Holding founder considers selling bonds in the U.S.

Kazakh billionaire Timur Turlov is considering selling Freedom bonds in dollars and yuan. One of the options is to offer investors in the U.S. bonds Freedom Holding, traded on Nasdaq. The businessman wants to use the money to expand his business, including the development of telecom infrastructure and data centers to sell capacity to cloud giants such as Amazon and Microsoft.

Turlov is discussing the possibility of issuing bonds, considering two options: through Kazakhstan's Freedom Bank or through Freedom Holding, whose securities are traded in the United States. The billionaire told about it in an interview with Bloomberg.

According to Turlov, in the case of the bank, it is "absolutely uninteresting" to borrow at a rate of 9%, as it would be too expensive. In the second case, Freedom Holding could offer about $300-500 million worth of bonds to investors in the US, the businessman said. "Ma will need to build a reputation there [in the US], and we understand that this is a long-term project," Turlov said. Freedom is ready to pay at a premium, he added.

The group has also held roadshows in Hong Kong and is working on a potential sale of yuan-denominated bonds, the billionaire said. "There may be some opportunities there, as of course it is the most attractive currency for borrowing," he said.

Attracting funds is necessary to expand Freedom's business, Bloomberg writes. Turlov intends to invest $200-300 million in the development of telecom infrastructure and data centers. The holding plans to create data centers that will provide clouds to clients such as Amazon and Microsoft, provide services to governments and sell computing power to clients through the exchange, the agency reports.

In addition, the investment is needed to increase competition with Kazakhstan's dominant players, including Kaspi.kz (a leader in retail loans and marketplace sales) and Halyk Bank (the country's largest by assets). There are several banks in Kazakhstan that are "theoretically" open for sale: Freedom could buy one of them at a price slightly below book value to merge and gain access to its customer base, especially corporate customers, Turlov said. Such a bank should be no smaller than Freedom, which has $5 billion in assets and about $500 million in capital, the businessman added.

"We may soon announce the purchase of a local marketplace," Turlov also revealed, without revealing the name.

Freedom wants to expand in overseas markets as well. "I am interested in offering our [app] Superapp as a digital ecosystem in the market in the U.S., and we are looking for the right ways. We are thinking about either getting a fintech license or partnering with a local bank," Turlov said. Obtaining a banking license directly or through the purchase of a U.S. bank is complicated by regulatory requirements, he added.

Freedom is also likely to try to sell its banking and brokerage products in the US and UAE, respectively, through partnerships with local players. In Turkey, Freedom, having obtained a brokerage license, is now looking for a bank to buy: in this market, capital requirements are around $300 million. "There are a huge number of banks there that do not meet these requirements," Turlov said.

Turlov's personal fortune is estimated at $5.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Freedom Holding shares are now 35% cheaper than the record reached in August 2025. But relative to the beginning of 2026, they're up slightly.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor