Mobilink Bank agrees to buy Apna Microfinance Bank, whose accumulated losses are 3.6 times Mobilink's capital
VEON's Pakistani bank has signed to take 82.5 percent of the listed lender, but the price and the capital it will inject stay secret until regulators approve.
Mobilink Bank, the microfinance bank behind JazzCash, has signed an agreement to buy 82.5 percent of Apna Microfinance Bank, a listed lender whose equity has been eroding since 2021 and whose accumulated losses are about 3.6 times the paid up capital of its buyer. VEON, the parent of Jazz, announced the share purchase agreement on 13 November. Neither side has said what Mobilink will pay.
The deal needs approval from the State Bank of Pakistan and the Competition Commission of Pakistan. VEON said it will state the price and the capital it expects to inject only after both clear the sale. That order matters, because the size of the cheque decides whether this is a rescue or a purchase of a branch network.
What Mobilink is buying
Apna Bank was incorporated in 2003 and began operating in January 2005. It has 72 business locations, made up of 71 branches and one service centre, and lends mainly to farmers and small businesses. The rating agency PACRA, in a May 2026 report, put its deposits at Rs30.6 billion at the end of 2025, up from Rs25.7 billion a year earlier, and its loans at Rs10.6 billion, up from Rs8.2 billion. About 87 percent of that loan book is secured or backed by gold.
The same report shows the problem. Apna lost Rs1.7 billion in 2025, down from Rs3.1 billion in 2024. Profit by Pakistan Today, reading the bank's accounts, put cumulative historical losses at roughly Rs15 billion. PACRA rates the bank BB for the long term with a negative outlook, and says sponsor support, including an extra Rs500 million in 2025, remains inadequate to fully mitigate the bank's accumulated capital impairment. It also cites years of failing the State Bank's minimum capital and capital adequacy requirements.
The sums behind the price
Three calculations from those published figures show what Mobilink is taking on. First, only about 35 percent of Apna's deposits are lent out (Rs10.6 billion of Rs30.6 billion). The other Rs20 billion is outside the loan book, so what Mobilink is mainly buying is the deposit base and the branches. Second, each of the 72 locations holds about Rs425 million of deposits on average (Rs30.6 billion divided by 72). Third, at the 2025 loss rate of Rs1.7 billion a year, it would take almost nine years to lose another Rs15 billion. The bank loses less than it did, but the hole it has already dug is not closing by itself.
Set that against the buyer. Mobilink Bank told the market in March that its paid up capital is Rs4.13 billion, so Apna's accumulated losses are 3.6 times that figure (Rs15 billion divided by Rs4.13 billion). That does not mean Mobilink must pay in Rs15 billion. The cost to the buyer is whatever it takes to bring Apna's capital back to the State Bank's minimum, and that gap has not been published. Mobilink Bank operates 132 branches, so the two networks together would have about 203 outlets.
How the regulator and the market shape it
The State Bank approved due diligence on 6 February, with a two month window, and attached conditions. Depositors' funds of either bank may not be used at any stage of the transaction, and approval to inspect the books is not approval to acquire. Final sanction may require a satisfactory funding plan, which means Mobilink has to bring fresh money and show where it comes from.
Apna is listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, and Mobilink's March announcement of intention said a public offer for at least half of the remaining voting shares would follow if the deal went ahead. With the buyer taking 82.5 percent, the other 17.5 percent is held by others, so half of it is about 8.75 percent of the bank. The price per share for that offer is the number minority holders will watch, and it has not been published.
Who gains, and who carries the risk
Apna's depositors have the most to gain. A bank with Rs30.6 billion in deposits that has failed capital rules for years is easier to repair inside a group that already runs a wallet with 57 million registered users. Mobilink gains a branch network in farm and small business lending, and VEON, which in 2026 also took control of TPL Insurance, now renamed JazzSure, would own payments, insurance and a larger bank in Pakistan.
The risk sits with Mobilink and its shareholders. A loan book backed by gold is safer than an unsecured one, but it depends on the gold price and on how carefully gold is valued at each branch counter. The next dated step is the regulatory approvals from the State Bank and the Competition Commission, after which VEON has said it will disclose the price and the capital needed.
