MOSCOW, April 1 (Reuters) - Russian lender Sovcombank on Monday said it had received regulatory approval to acquire Home Bank, a leader in commodity lending.

Sovcombank, which became the first Russian bank to turn public with a Moscow initial public offering (IPO) in December, has previously said the Home Bank deal would increase the number of its active retail customers by 50% to 9 million.

The deal's strategic focus is to retain and scale Home Bank's commodity lending expertise and grow the customer base.

Sovcombank's retail loan and retail deposit portfolios will increase by 25% through the deal, the bank said. (Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)