Kakao Pay, a South Korea-based mobile payment service backed by financial services provider Ant Group, is raising between ₩1.6 trillion and ₩1.7 trillion ($1.4bn to $1.5bn) in its initial public offering.
The IPO is set to take place on the Korea Exchange on August 12 this year, and will involve the company issuing 17 million new shares priced at approximately $55.60 to $84.70 each.
Formed by internet group Kakao in 2014, Kakao Pay Corp was spun off in April 2017, two months after it received $200m in funding from Ant Group (then called Ant Financial).
Kakao Pay’s financial technology platform allows its 36 million users to make payments on their mobile devices. It claims it has facilitated transactions worth almost $62bn in 2020, and $20.2bn in the first quarter of this year.
In addition to payments, the platform has added other financial services including investment, remittance, billing, electronic management, loan, insurance and asset management. The company is valued at about $11bn, according to a filing.
Kakao Corp is Kakao Pay’s largest shareholder, owning a 55% stake, while Ant Group’s Alipay subsidiary holds the remaining 45%. Samsung Securities, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are lead underwriters for the offering, while Daishin Securities is co-bookrunner.
Kakao Pay chief executive Ryu Young-jun said: “Until now, we have made new attempts to lower the barriers to entry into difficult and complex finance, so that even if the asset size is small or inexperienced, Kakao Pay can lead all financial lives.
“And by enhancing shareholder value, we will take one step closer to the vision of ‘a financial platform for all people’s living’.”
