Freedom Holding Corp. raised $300 million through the placement of shares

Freedom Holding Corp. She completed the placement of more than 2.3 million of her shares and earned $300 million on this. The placement price was $126.35 per share, according to Interfax-Kazakhstan.

The placement was attended exclusively by investors who are not residents of the United States.

"The funds we received during this placement will be invested in further business growth and expansion of our ecosystem into foreign markets. I am convinced that our digital infrastructure, which our team and I have built in Kazakhstan, will definitely be in demand and competitive in all regions of our presence," said the founder and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp. Timur Turlov.

The holding held one of the first large private share placements in 2018, when the securities were priced at $5.5. A year later, Freedom Holding Corp. She conducted an IPO on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker FRHC, the share was then worth $ 14. Today, the company's securities are traded on the stock exchange for about $150 per share, and the market capitalization is about $10 billion.

How Freedom Holding Corp. has changed.

Timur Turlov, founder and CEO of Freedom Holding, spoke about the company's approach to building a global digital ecosystem, international development strategy and the future of Freedom. According to Timur Turlov, the integration of various services is becoming the main competitive advantage in the modern economy. In conditions of high uncertainty, companies that are ready to adapt quickly, take responsibility and turn crises into new opportunities benefit, Turlov believes.

The history of the development of Freedom Holding Corp. Today, he is being studied by MBA students at Stanford Business School. The company was founded during the global financial crisis and has grown from a broker to the largest digital ecosystem in Central Asia in 18 years. Currently, the holding operates in 22 countries, including Europe and the United States, and the total audience of its services exceeds 14 million users.

Timur Turlov emphasizes: The status of a public company requires compliance with high standards of corporate governance and transparency. The holding company discloses expanded financial statements and undergoes regulatory inspections. The annual Deloitte audit costs the company about $10 million and is conducted by a team of more than 120 specialists. In addition, Freedom is undergoing one of the first comprehensive inspections by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has further strengthened internal control and risk management processes.

Credit ratings also show positive dynamics. In June of this year, S&P Global Ratings confirmed the rating of Freedom Holding Corp. at the "BB-" level with a stable outlook. At the same time, the ratings of Freedom Finance JSC, Freedom Finance Europe Ltd., Freedom Finance Global PLC and Freedom Bank Kazakhstan JSC were upgraded from "B+" to "BB-". The Agency attributed this to the strengthening of the risk management system and the development of compliance procedures.

Freedom Strategy: why the holding is growing so fast

According to Timur Turlov, in recent years, Freedom Holding Corp. I have deliberately shifted my focus from maximizing short-term profits to long-term growth and business diversification. Back in 2022, the brokerage business provided the bulk of revenue, but today a significant share of income is generated by banking, insurance and lifestyle services.

One of the most telling examples was the transformation of the bank, which was acquired in January 2021 for $50 million. In a few years, equity has grown to almost $500 million, assets have reached $54 billion, and in just 18 months, more than 5 million accounts have been opened. The total number of customers exceeded 6 million people, and the bank itself became one of the most digital banks in the region, ranking third in Kazakhstan in terms of card transactions.

The total revenue of other areas is approaching $500 million. The turnover of lifestyle services reached $516 million, doubling over the year. Freedom Travel has approached 30% of the Kazakhstan air ticket market, and the ticket service acquired during the pandemic brought turnover to $87 million and surpassed the million app installs mark.

As of January 2026, the company's share in the electronics sales market was 17%, and the volume of primary loans reached $56 million. Online tire sales continue to develop with an annual turnover of about $20 million. At the same time, the company is introducing new insurance products, including modern risk assessment models in auto insurance and life insurance.

Launched in November last year, the media platform with content from Warner, Universal, Paramount, Sony and Disney has attracted hundreds of thousands of new users. The telecommunications sector is also developing: 220 base stations have already been built, and the company is preparing to enter the mobile communications market.

Investments in AI infrastructure and technology exports

Today, a significant part of investments is directed towards the development of its own AI infrastructure. The revenue of the cloud business has reached $250 million, and in the coming years this figure, according to the company, may grow to $1 billion annually.

In 2025, Freedom Holding Corp. signed a trilateral agreement, which is transformed into a contract with NVIDIA worth $2 billion to create the largest AI cluster in the region. Hundreds of millions of dollars of its own funds have already been invested, and in early July, the holding also signed memoranda with Citi providing financing for the project.

As Timur Turlov notes, Kazakhstan remains the main platform for the development and testing of new solutions, which are then scaled to international markets. Now the company is going abroad not only with banking and brokerage products, but with a ready-made digital ecosystem based on the widespread use of artificial intelligence.

In early July, Freedom Holding Corp. She received permission to conduct banking activities in Turkey. According to the head of the holding, scaling the Kazakh model to the Turkish market can more than double the company's business.

In parallel, work continues on obtaining a banking license in the countries of the European Union, primarily in France. Freedom is also considering markets with a low level of banking penetration, including countries in Asia and the Middle East. Timur Turlov's strategic goal is to create a global ecosystem with an audience that could reach 100 million and then a billion users in the future.

Timur Turlov notes that in the digital economy, it is not individual services that gain the advantage, but complex platforms that combine a wide range of services. As examples, he cites OpenAI in the artificial intelligence market, as well as Bitcoin and Ethereum in the field of cryptocurrencies. According to him, Freedom's main assets remain employees, customers, trust and discipline. International expansion, ecosystem development, and large-scale investments in artificial intelligence should form the basis for the company's growth and strengthen its position in the global financial market.