'Immediate Rank Boost Upon Acquisition' Focus on Lotte Card Sale 추진

Mentioned: Woori, Hana Financial, KT, and Others

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] As the sale of Lotte Card, a mid-tier domestic credit card company, becomes more visible, industry attention is focusing on it. This is because if mid-to-lower tier card companies take over, they can instantly boost their ranking and market share.

According to the financial sector on the 6th, private equity fund (PEF) operator MBK Partners is recently pushing forward the sale of Lotte Card. MBK Partners is the largest shareholder holding 59.8% of Lotte Card's shares.

An industry insider said, "I understand that MBK Partners recently selected a sales advisory firm and started related work," adding, "However, unlike the previous purchase from the Lotte Group, it does not seem that they are pursuing the sale with a specific timetable."

In the industry, the leading acquisition candidates are Woori Financial Group, Hana Financial Group, and KT. All three groups operate Woori Card, Hana Card, BC Card, etc., so there is a high possibility of business synergy effects.

Among them, Woori Financial Group is drawing the most public attention. This is because its subsidiary, Woori Bank, already holds a 20% stake in Lotte Card and has the right of first review. Especially, Woori Financial Group is evaluated as having a relatively weak non-bank portfolio among the four major financial holding companies.

Hana Financial Group has also been included in the candidate pool since the 2019 acquisition battle. Woori Card and Hana Card are also notable candidates because acquiring Lotte Card would instantly elevate them to the industry’s leading tier.

Recently, KT, which has BC Card as a subsidiary, has also emerged as a strong candidate. BC Card has been expanding its business by issuing its own credit cards and challenging innovative services as the profitability of its core payment network business has deteriorated. Moreover, the market is paying attention because of the expected synergy effects with related affiliates such as KT, K-Bank, and BC Card.

The key issue is the sale price. It is known that MBK Partners hopes to sell Lotte Card at around 3 trillion won, but as the card industry’s outlook is not bright amid recent interest rate hikes, the industry evaluates this as somewhat excessive.

A financial sector official said, "It is true that Lotte Card’s profitability has recently improved rapidly, but the regulation on merchant commission rates and the recent surge in funding costs due to the base interest rate hike are negative factors," adding, "Furthermore, the payment business is an area of fierce competition with big tech companies, so it is questionable whether there is room to spend such a large amount."

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