S.Korea's Kakao Bank IPO to raise $2.2 bln after pricing at top of range (updated)

Netmarble

22/07/2021 09:31

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    By Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang
    SEOUL, July 22 (Reuters) - South Korean digital bank Kakao
Bank Corp will raise $2.2 billion in its initial public offering
(IPO), the company said in a filing on Thursday. 
    The shares were priced at 39,000 won each, the top of the
range announced in a regulatory filing this month, to raise
about 2.6 trillion won ($2.22 billion). 
    The listing expected in August will be the country's biggest
since game company Netmarble  251270.KS  raised 2.7 trillion won
in its 2017 IPO, overtaking this year's 2.2-trillion-won listing
of battery material maker SK IE Technology Co Ltd  361610.KS .
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2MJ0BQ 
    Kakao Bank, one of two digital banks, ranks No. 1 among
South Korea's financial apps with 13.35 million monthly active
users (MAUs), while holding 14th place among all the nation's
apps, the company said. 
    Having become profitable in 2019 after less than two years
in operation, it reported net profit of 113.6 billion won in
2020, an eightfold increase from 13.7 billion the previous year,
it said. 
    Last year, interest income accounted for 75% of its
operating income, while 19% came from non-interest income, and
6% from "platform profits" such as connecting users to other
financial firms' services and advertisements. 
    The bank plans to use the funds to grow in these areas,
including offering mortgages, which are South Korea's most
common type of loan, by mobile telephone early next year at the
latest, Chief Executive Daniel Yun told reporters.
    It will also develop financial technology, weigh potential
acquisitions of fintech firms, and make investments with an eye
to entering the global market, he added.
 ($1=1,149 won)

 (Reporting by Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang; Editing by Jason
Neely and Clarence Fernandez)
 ((jungyoon.lee@tr.com; +82 2 6936 1467;))