이 기사는 2022년 01월 11일 08:07 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korea’s digital lender K bank has sent out a request for proposals last Friday to select banks to lead its potential initial public offering.

The RFP was sent to four top-ranked domestic securities firms – Mirae Asset Securities, Samsung Securities, NH Investment & Securities and Shinhan Investment – and six foreign investment banks, according to industry sources.

Korea Investment & Securities is reportedly among the major domestic securities firms that have not been invited by the lender, apparently because the firm owns a significant minority stake of 23% in rival Kakao Bank through its wholly owned subsidiary, Korea Value Asset Management. Kakao Bank made its stock market debut last August.

It is likely that preparations for presentations to K bank will be directly led by top executives of each securities firm, industry watchers said.

“We have often seen such cases amid the recent string of large IPOs,” an investment banking source said. “K bank is expected to be one of the biggest deals in the country’s IPO market this year.”

Krafton’s 4.3 trillion won ($3.6 billion) listing was the largest South Korean IPO in 2021 and the second largest in the country’s history.

When the game developer started a process to select advisers on its IPO, Mirae Asset Securities CEO and chairman Choi Hyun-man, NH Investment & Securities CEO and president Jeong Young-chae, Korea Investment & Securities CEO and president Jung Il-moon, and Samsung Securities CEO and president Chang Seok-hoon participated in presentations in person.

K bank plans to finish the selection process in February and complete the IPO as soon as the second half of this year.

The digital bank turned profitable last year, recording a net profit of 8.4 billion won on revenue of 190.2 billion won in the first three quarters of 2021. In 2020, it generated a net loss of 105.4 billion won on revenue of 105.4 billion won. (Reporting by Ji-hye Lee)