KakaoPay to Pursue IPO... Aiming for Listing in the First Half of Next Year

KB Securities Selected as Lead Underwriter for IPO

Ryu Young-jun, CEO of Kakao Pay, is attending 'Kakao Pay Day 2019' held last year at Glad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul, announcing key business plans. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] Kakao Pay is aiming for an initial public offering (IPO) in the first half of next year.

According to industry sources on the 28th, Kakao Pay recently selected KB Securities as the lead underwriter for the listing and plans to apply to the Financial Supervisory Service for auditor designation.

Kakao Pay stated, "Although there are various variables such as the stock market situation, we are preparing for a listing targeting the first half of next year," adding, "We will secure new growth engines through large-scale external funding and continue aggressive business growth."

Kakao Pay is a leading domestic simple payment service provider with 34 million subscribers. The transaction amount reached 29.1 trillion KRW as of the first half of the year. Earlier this year, it entered the securities business by acquiring Baro Investment & Securities and rebranding it as 'Kakao Pay Securities,' and it is also promoting the establishment of a digital non-life insurance company.

At the company's launch in 2017, Alipay's operator 'Ant Financial's' subsidiary Alipay Singapore Holding invested 200 million USD (approximately 230 billion KRW), and in June of this year, it injected an additional 115.2 billion KRW. Currently, Alipay holds a 43.9% stake, making it the second-largest shareholder after Kakao.

Meanwhile, among Kakao affiliates, Kakao Games recently succeeded in listing on the KOSDAQ market, Kakao Page recently selected a lead underwriter for its listing, and Kakao Bank has also resolved to pursue an IPO.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.