Korean B2B fintech firm Dozn plans Kosdaq IPO for $202.5 mn market cap

South Korea’s business-to-business fintech service provider Dozn is planning an initial public offering on the Kosdaq in February for an estimated market capitalization of up to 294.5 billion won ($202.5 million), investment banking sources said on Thursday.

Dozn is set to issue 2.5 million new shares at 10,500 won to 12,500 won apiece, according to a filing with the financial regulator. The IPO will likely put its market capitalization at 247.4 billion won to 294.5 billion won.

Retail and institutional investor subscriptions will be accepted Feb. 20-21. Korea Investment & Securities Co. manages the listing.

The company founded in 2017 provides corporate clients such as online shopping mall operators with services including funds transfer, currency exchange and settlements.

HEALTHY EARNINGS

Dozn’s sales and operating profit surged 91.9% and 77.9%, respectively, on average from 2020 to 2023.

The company reported an operating profit of 7.7 billion won in the first three quarters of 2024, up 9.2% from a year earlier, with sales nearly doubling to 46.9 billion won.

Its business messaging service, which allows corporate clients to communicate with customers, employees and partners via text message, social media and other channels, has recently enjoyed strong growth.

The service generated 19 billion won in sales in the first three quarters of 2024, nearly double the revenue of 9.6 billion won for all of 2023.

JACKPOT FOR KAKAO PAY

The listing is expected to allow Kakao Pay Corp., Dozn’s second-largest shareholder with a 9.44% stake, to pocket a huge return, sources said.

The mobile payment and digital wallet services unit of South Korean mobile platform giant Kakao Corp. invested 495 million won in Dozn in 2019 based on its enterprise value of 5 billion won. Kakao Pay later spent an additional 51.5 million won on Dozn’s rights offering.

Kakao Pay’s stake in Dozn is predicted to shrink to 8.41% after the IPO. The stake is estimated at 20.9 billion won if Dozn goes public at 10,500 won per share, the low end of its IPO price target.

Kakao Pay does not plan to sell its stake for the time being, a company official said.

“We are cooperating on various businesses as Dozn’s major partner,” said the official. “We voluntarily set up a one-year lockup period after the listing for stable operations as we are the second-largest shareholder.”

Write to Hanjong Choi at onebell@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.