Kookmin Bank said on Monday it had agreed to buy a 30 per cent stake in Kazakhstan’s CenterCredit for $634m as the South Korean bank moves to gain a foothold in central Asia.

The deal will make Kookmin the second largest shareholder of CenterCredit. And Kookmin plans to increase its stake in the Kazakh bank to 50.1 per cent within 30 months after completing the 30 per cent purchase. CenterCredit is the sixth-largest bank in Kazakhstan with total assets of $7.3bn.