UPDATE 4-Kazakh govt, banks agree $3.47 bln bailout package

(Adds Oct. 24 closing prices to be used, timeframe for majority shareholders' right to buy stakes from the government)

By Raushan Nurshayeva

ASTANA, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The Kazakh government and the country's top banks have agreed terms for at least $3.47 billion in capital injections to counter the impact of the global credit crisis, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Analysts said Kazakh banks need to boost reserves against loan losses and face about $12 billion of foreign debt repayments next year amid tight refinancing conditions.

The state-owned SamrukKazyna fund said the government and the banks had agreed on a partial nationalisation of the top four banks BTA BTAS.KZ, Halyk (HSBKq.L), Alliance (ALLBq.L) and Kazkommerts (KKGByq.L).

"The price of shares will be defined as their market value as of October 24 on the London Stock Exchange for (the banks)," SamrukKazyna Chief Executive Kairat Kelimbetov told reporters.

He added the price for BTA would be based on its performance on the Kazakh Stock Exchange. The government, which has said it would buy up to 25 percent of each bank's ordinary shares, said later on Tuesday it would refer to Oct. 24 closing prices.

The deals are yet to be approved by each bank's shareholders meetings.

Global depository receipts (GDRs) of Kazkommertsbank, according to Reuters data, opened at $3.35 on Oct. 24 and closed at $2.90. They traded at around $8.00 on Monday. Other banks also traded close to the bottom on Oct. 24.

"October 24 was a day when no insider information had been leaked yet, no offers had been made to anyone," Finance Minister Bolat Zhamishev told reporters separately.

FAIR PRICE

Analysts said the government's offer looked fair given current market conditions.

"It's the banks who need capital so why should it be expensive for the government?" said Rustam Botashev, an analyst with Russian brokerage Unicredit Aton.

Milena Ivanova-Venturini, a banking analyst with investment bank Renaissance Capital, said bank share prices had jumped immediately after the bailout package announcement on Oct. 28.

"It doesn't look like it's hurting minorities, because they can participate in the placement and buy new shares at a discount," she said.