1.2 Trillion KRW Paid-in Capital Increase... Seo Hoseong, K-Bank CEO, 100-Day 'Expansion Strategy' Succeeds (Comprehensive)

Focusing on External Growth Strategies Such as Office Relocation and Massive User Acquisition

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Seo Hoseong, CEO of K-Bank, who marked his 100th day in office on the 19th, is seeing his expansion strategy yield results one after another. Through various partnerships, customer inflow has increased significantly, and large-scale capital expansion has raised future growth potential, according to evaluations.

K-Bank announced on the 26th that it held a board meeting and resolved a paid-in capital increase worth approximately KRW 1.2499 trillion (about 192.29 million shares).

Among the total newly issued shares, KRW 524.9 billion worth will be raised through a shareholder allocation method. The remaining KRW 725 billion will be allocated to new investors through a third-party allotment. Private equity fund (PEF) MBK Partners and global private equity fund Bain Capital each subscribed KRW 200 billion (about 30.77 million shares), MG Saemaeul Geumgo’s private equity fund, where it is the lead investor (LP), subscribed KRW 150 billion (about 23.08 million shares), and a private equity fund jointly formed by JS Private Equity and Shinhan Alternative Investment Management as co-general partners (Co-GP) was allocated KRW 125 billion (about 19.23 million shares) worth of new shares. In addition, Com2uS participated with KRW 50 billion (about 7.69 million shares) to create various business opportunities that enhance synergy between game-based content business and finance.

Since his inauguration on February 9, CEO Seo has been focusing on external expansion. Along with major changes such as relocating the headquarters, he attracted a large number of users through cryptocurrency. As of the end of last month, K-Bank’s customer base reached 5.37 million, an increase of 1.46 million from the previous month. Deposit and savings balances increased by KRW 3.42 trillion from the previous month to KRW 12.14 trillion, and loan balances rose by KRW 850 billion to KRW 4.68 trillion. Considering that at the end of last year, K-Bank’s deposit balance was KRW 3.7453 trillion and loan balance was KRW 2.9887 trillion, deposits increased by KRW 8.3947 trillion and loans by KRW 1.6913 trillion in just four months.

Once this capital increase is completed, K-Bank’s paid-in capital will more than double from KRW 901.7 billion to KRW 2.1515 trillion. Based on this capital increase, K-Bank plans to expand its IT infrastructure, advance its credit scoring system (CSS), and increase loan supply to low- and medium-credit borrowers. Additionally, it aims to develop new products such as synergy products and services with the KT Group to leap forward as a digital financial platform.

Seo Hoseong, CEO of K-Bank, said, “This large-scale capital expansion is the result of the market recognizing K-Bank’s innovation capabilities and future growth potential. While further strengthening the competitiveness of our core deposit and loan business, we will accelerate partnerships with other companies and expand group synergies to grow into a financial platform optimized for the digital business environment.”

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