KakaoBank Sets IPO Price at 39,000 Won... Demand Forecast Attracts 258.5 Trillion Won with 1,733:1 Competition Ratio

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] KakaoBank (CEO Yoon Ho-young) announced on the 22nd that it has set the public offering price at 39,000 KRW following the demand forecast conducted for domestic and international institutional investors until the 21st. This price is at the top end of the expected price range (33,000 to 39,000 KRW).

Ahead of its listing, KakaoBank issued a total of 65.45 million new shares, allocating 55% of them, or 35.9975 million shares, to institutional investors. The total number of applications from both domestic and overseas investors reached 1,667, with a quantity of 62.377436 billion shares, resulting in a simple competition rate of 1,733 to 1.

A total of 1,667 institutions participated in the demand forecast, including 1,287 domestic and 380 overseas investors. Notably, overseas investors expressed their intention to invest even before the initial public offering (IPO) and showed active investment willingness during the company briefing sessions.

The total order size amounted to 2,585 trillion KRW, surpassing the previous record of 2,417 trillion KRW set by SKIET. All participating institutions offered prices at or above the top end of the expected price range of 39,000 KRW. The competition rate of 1,733 to 1 is the second highest ever recorded on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI).

The quantity of shares subject to the shortest 15-day to longest 6-month lock-up commitment accounted for 45% of the total application quantity. Institutional investors participating in the demand forecast highly evaluated KakaoBank’s growth potential and actively proposed lock-up commitments centered on high-quality investors.

KakaoBank, based on mobile completeness, offers new experiences and differentiated products and services. As of the first quarter, it is a mobile bank used by 16.15 million people and ranks first in the financial mobile app sector with a monthly active user (MAU) count of 13.35 million. Going forward, it plans to innovate the entire financial sector by actively utilizing innovative technology, strong platform power, and the Kakao ecosystem.

Yoon Ho-young, CEO of KakaoBank, said, "We deeply thank the institutional investors who resonated with KakaoBank’s growth potential and differentiated strategy," adding, "We hope for interest and support in the general public subscription, where we can meet more prospective shareholders."

KakaoBank will accept public subscription applications from general investors over two days, on the 26th and 27th. Of the total shares, 25%, or 16.3625 million shares, will be allocated, with half distributed equally and the other half proportionally. Subscriptions can be made through KB Securities, the lead underwriter, as well as Korea Investment & Securities, Hana Financial Investment, and Hyundai Motor Securities, the underwriting companies. Duplicate subscriptions or double subscriptions using more than two subscription places or multiple accounts are not allowed for KakaoBank subscriptions.

After the general subscription, KakaoBank will be listed on the KOSPI on August 6.

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