Nasdaq-listed Freedom Holding Corp. has completed the acquisition of a 99.32% stake in Turkish Bank A.Ş. The acquisition marks Freedom Holding’s formal entry into the country’s banking sector and lays the foundation for an integrated financial and digital platform. The transaction was carried out through its subsidiary, Freedom Finansal Hizmetler A.Ş. Following the transfer of control, the bank was renamed Freedom Bank A.Ş.
The transaction was completed after the company received approval from Türkiye’s Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency and the Turkish competition authority.
Freedom Holding plans to strengthen the bank’s capital position, upgrade its IT infrastructure, develop its digital channels, launch new products, and improve operational efficiency.
According to the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), more than 120 million digital bank accounts have been opened in the country, while mobile banking is used by approximately 85% of the population. Turkish customers are already accustomed to advanced mobile-banking services, so the new platform will have to compete not only on the breadth of its product range but also on the usability of its app, transaction speed, and the overall quality of the customer experience.
Türkiye occupies a special place in Freedom Holding Corp.’s global growth strategy. The country is not only a geographical bridge between Europe and Asia, but also a strategic gateway connecting the world’s largest financial markets.
Freedom Holding Corp. began building the infrastructure for its Turkish operations in 2022, when it established Freedom Finansal Hizmetler A.Ş. The company was created to support the group’s investments in banking, insurance, capital markets, payment systems, and other financial-services segments.
In 2025, following approval from Türkiye's Capital Markets Board (CMB), Freedom Yatırım Menkul Değerler A.Ş. was established as the Group's local brokerage platform.
The bank acquisition complements Freedom’s expansion into Türkiye’s capital markets. Freedom now has a banking platform on which it can build its own ecosystem in Türkiye.
Banking services give the group regular contact with customers through accounts, cards, payments, transfers, deposits, and lending products. The acquired bank is therefore expected to sit at the center of the future platform.
In Kazakhstan, Freedom Holding has already built an ecosystem that combines banking, brokerage, investment, insurance, and payment services. It also offers e-commerce, travel, ticketing, and entertainment services. The group plans to draw on this experience in Türkiye.
“In Kazakhstan, we built an ecosystem in which financial and everyday services operate through a single SuperApp, which has become the country’s fastest-growing digital service,” said Timur Turlov, founder and chief executive officer of Freedom Holding Corp.
According to Timur Turlov, the Turkish market sets an especially high bar for the group.
“We are now bringing this model to Türkiye, where customers already have high expectations of their banks. Our task over the next few years is to strengthen the bank’s capital base and technological capabilities so that an ecosystem can develop rapidly around it,” Turlov said.
The group’s experience in Kazakhstan has demonstrated that financial and lifestyle services can be combined on a single digital platform. Türkiye will show how successfully the model can be scaled beyond Freedom’s home market.
Freedom Holding Corp. operates in 22 countries, including Kazakhstan, the United States, Cyprus, Poland, Spain, Uzbekistan, and Armenia. Its principal executive office is in New York. The group’s shares trade under the ticker FRHC on Nasdaq, the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, and the Astana International Exchange.
Freedom Holding strengthened its financial position for further international expansion in fiscal year 2026, which ended on March 31. Revenue increased 9% year-on-year to $2.19 billion, while net income more than doubled to $153.3 million from $76.2 million a year earlier. Total assets rose 33% to $13.16 billion. By March 2026, the Freedom ecosystem served more than 14 million customers.
In June 2026, S&P Global Ratings upgraded the credit ratings of four Freedom subsidiaries to BB- with a Stable outlook, while affirming the holding company's long-term issuer credit rating at B-, also with a Stable outlook.