Kazakh's CenterCredit denies acquisition rumours

ALMATY, Jan 16 (Reuters) - CenterCredit CCBN.KZ, Kazakhstan's No. 6 bank, on Wednesday denied market rumours that it was being taken over by a large foreign player, which had sparked a rally in its share price.

CenterCredit shares had risen to 1,600 tenge ($13.3) by Tuesday from 1,370 tenge last week on the Central Asian state's largely illiquid stock exchange.

"There is some speculation that the bank has been holding successful negotiations over its sale to a large Western institution," a Kazakh investment banker said.

CenterCredit has denied the rumours. "This is not true," said spokeswoman Zhanna Mambetova.

Italy's UniCredit last year bought Kazakhstan's No.5 bank ATF for $2.1 billion. Austria's Raiffeisen International (RIBH.VI) has said it is looking for assets in the country. (Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov, editing by Will Waterman)