Kakao Bank wraps up $921 mn rights offering

South Korea's mobile-only bank has wrapped up its $920.5 million rights offering, placing the enterprise value at around 9.3 trillion won ($8.6 billion) ahead of its 2021 listing, according to the banking industry on Dec. 30.

Major private equity firms US-based TPG Capital and Hong Kong-based Anchor Equity Partners each committed 250 billion won, each taking a 2.61% stake in Kakao Bank Corp. through the rights offering. Existing shareholders also submitted payments for the allocated 500 billion won on Tuesday.

The issue price per share was 23,500 won, about 4.5 times higher than the face value of 5,000 won.

“Through this capital increase, we plan to improve our loss-absorbing capacity and extend loans to borrowers with low and medium credit," said a Kakao Bank official.

Following the rights offering, Kakao Corp., the country’s largest messaging app operator, saw its stake drop from 33.54% to 31.78% in Kakao Bank, although it remains the largest shareholder. Kakao Bank's co-founders, Korea Value Asset Management Co. and Korea Investment Holdings Co., hold 27.1% and 4.67% stakes, respectively. 

The securities industry estimates Kakao Bank to be valued at around 10 trillion won after making its trading debut, in ranks with the country’s third-largest financial holding company Hana Financial Group with a market cap of 10.3 trillion won.

However, Kakao Bank’s shares are being traded between 70,000 won and 80,000 won apiece in the over-the-counter market, boosting its market value to touch around 30 trillion won.

Currently, KB Financial Group and Shinhan Financial Group are in the lead with market caps of 18 trillion won and 16 trillion won, respectively.

Kakao Bank anticipates its capital adequacy ratio to climb to near 20% compared to 14% from the end of the third quarter following the rights offering. The company’s capital increased to 2.4 trillion won with its paid-in capital rising to 2.8 trillion won.

Meanwhile, Kookmin Bank's stake in Kakao Bank dropped from 9.86% to 9.35%. Also, Seoul Guarantee Insurance Company, Korea Post, eBay Korea and Tencent saw their combined shareholdings drop from 3.94% to 3.74%.


Write to Daehun Kim at daepun@hankyung.com
Danbee Lee edited this article.