Kakao Pay, a fintech subsidiary of Kakao which is the South Korean firm that runs the KakaoTalk messenger app, announced that it has kicked off its initial public offering (IPO) filing, planning to raise up to 1.632 trillion won (US$1.4 billion).
This follows that of Kakao Bank’s plans for an IPO as the digital-first lender looks to raise US$2.3 billion.
On July 2, Kakao Pay filed its registration statement to the Financial Services Commission (FSC) for an IPO on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI). The firm will make its debut on KOSPI on August 12.
Kakao Pay said that it plans to offer a total of 17 million shares at an indicative range between 63,000 won (US$56) to 96,000 won (US$ 85) per share.
The offering price will be fixed after the book-building process from the institutional investors by end of July.
The main underwriters for the deal are Samsung Securities, JP Morgan, and Goldman Sachs, with co-underwriter Daishin Securities.
Launched in September 2014, the company has reportedly accumulated over 36 million registered users. Its annual transaction volume reached 67 trillion won last year, recording 22.8 trillion won for the first quarter this year.
The company turned to profit in this first quarter with a consolidated net profit of 12 billion won.
Kakao Pay plans to launch Mobile Trading Systems (MTS) in its investment service and launch a digital non-life insurance business this year. It will also be pursuing MyData business as well.
Featured image credit: edited from Unsplash
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