[Funding] 'Business Expansion Speed' Kakao Mobility Begins Full-Scale Liquidity Securing

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Jeong-su] Kakao Mobility is accelerating its external fundraising efforts. Recently, it borrowed several billion won from a financial company for the first time since its establishment and is also pursuing pre-IPO (pre-Initial Public Offering equity investment) from major domestic and international investors.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 2nd, Kakao Mobility borrowed 50 billion won at the end of last month from a special purpose company (SPC) established by Kookmin Bank. The loan has a maturity of three years, with a lump-sum principal repayment at maturity.

Kookmin Bank provided credit support to the SPC, which issued asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) based on the principal and interest repaid by Kakao Mobility to raise loan funds. The ABCP is reissued in 12 installments every three months.

This is the first time Kakao Mobility has raised several billion won in the form of borrowings. Since its establishment in 2017, it had maintained a debt-free status, with only an increase to 5.5 billion won at the end of last year.

Until now, most of the funds needed for affiliate investments and company operations were covered by attracting external investors. In 2017, it raised 500 billion won from the TPG consortium and secured some capital through a paid-in capital increase.

However, recently, the scale of fundraising has increased and the pace has accelerated. Kakao Mobility is also reportedly considering an additional pre-IPO. UBS, a Swiss investment bank, was selected as the lead underwriter. On the 26th, it also provided stock options worth 15.5 billion won to 34 employees.

The IB industry views that Kakao Mobility has increased liquidity to meet growing funding needs during its investment expansion. In October, November, and December of last year, Kakao Mobility expanded investments by injecting 20 billion won, 23 billion won, and 12 billion won respectively into its affiliated taxi company, TJ Partners.

An industry insider said, "Kakao Mobility is rapidly growing as the franchise taxi service 'T Blue' expands regionally, based on the stable growth of Kakao Daeri," adding, "The van business 'T Van T' is also expected to accelerate growth by expanding its nationwide franchise business in the future."

Meanwhile, as of the end of last year, Kakao is the largest shareholder of Kakao Mobility with a 69.29% stake. KHAKI Holdings, LP holds 17.92%, Mobility Co-Invest LMT Partnership holds 6.70%, and other investors hold 6.09% of the shares.

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