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Kazakhstan became independent in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 2008, the country survived a near-collapsing of its banking system. During the crisis, the Government acquired controlling stakes of the leading banks and helped them to restructure the debt and loan portfolio and improve the financial position. Later in 2013, the banks were put on sale, as the country leadership decided to privatize the national banks. In addition, the Government intended to approve a new decree focusing on banking sector enlargement. The management of ForteBank, a relatively small bank in Kazakhstan, realized that the bank would not meet the new capital requirements. Thus, the management considered the acquisition of the largest government-owned banks - Temir Bank and Alliance Bank. The ForteBank CEO Guram Andronikashvili was puzzled whether the immediate acquisition of the almost-bankrupted banks was the right choice. He could smell the opportunity, but he needed to analyze the banks' performance and choose the right merger strategy. The case requires some background in finance and accounting and can be used in advanced finance classes. It involves financial analysis, corporate valuation, and invites the audience to roleplay the CEO and to address the decision dilemma on M&A transactions.