K Bank Sends Bid Proposal for IPO

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] K-Bank is embarking on the initial public offering (IPO) process to grow into a full-fledged digital financial platform.

On the 7th, K-Bank announced that it sent a request for proposal (RFP) for listing on the Korea Exchange to major domestic and international securities firms. K-Bank plans to receive proposals from securities firms within this month and select the lead underwriters next month.

Sending the RFP is the first step in proceeding with the listing. A K-Bank official explained, "The specific listing schedule will be finalized after signing the lead underwriting agreement."

Launched in April 2017, K-Bank succeeded in normalizing its management through a paid-in capital increase of 1.25 trillion KRW last July, the largest ever for an internet bank, and has since shown rapid growth.

In fact, after the capital increase, K-Bank recorded a cumulative profit of 8.4 billion KRW through the third quarter of last year, making it highly likely to turn an annual profit for the first time last year. Through partnerships with various businesses and the launch of competitive products and services, the number of customers increased from 2.19 million at the end of 2020 to 7.17 million by the end of last year.

Additionally, according to NHN Data, the K-Bank app ranked 4th among apps with the highest increase in installations last year.

Along with the expansion of the customer base, loan balances increased from 2.99 trillion KRW to 7.09 trillion KRW, and deposits grew from 3.75 trillion KRW to 11.32 trillion KRW.

A K-Bank official stated, "We will make thorough preparations to enable a flexible IPO considering the internal and external financial environment," adding, "Through a successful IPO, we will firmly establish ourselves as a digital financial platform."

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