이 기사는 2021년 03월 18일 08:53 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

Online-only lender K bank is proceeding with fundraising to increase its capital base by as much as 600 billion won ($526 million), with attention being paid to whether major foreign institutions will participate in the deal.

K bank plans to raise funds from foreign institutional investors, with a target to complete the deal by the end of June, industry sources said. The bank will raise around 400 billion won from new investors and 200 billion won from KT’s subsidiaries, including BC Card.

Market insiders are focusing on whether Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) will join the deal. While there are mixed views on the certainty of the deal, K bank’s competitiveness is believed to have been fully explained to foreign institutional investors as the bank has kept tapping them.

The world’s sixth largest sovereign wealth fund with $453.2 billion in assets under management, GIC has continued to show interest in the South Korean market. It invested in a company directly or participated in a fund created by a private equity fund as a limited partner.

“There were some cases where a potential buyer gains an edge (over rivals) in a competitive bidding when it secures GIC as a limited partner because the fund has a deep pocket and is also symbolically significant,” said an industry source, adding, “If a major institution decides to make investment, it would be easier to reach a fundraising target fast.”

South Korean financial firms’ stocks are considered undervalued compared to global peers, with their price-to-book ratio hovering below 1. This could attract interest from global investors. GIC invested $40 million in Viva Republica, which operates online payment service provider Toss, along with Sequoia China, in 2018.

Some market insiders question whether the process will go as planned as K bank has been struggling to catch up with rival Kakao Bank and because of its complicated ownership structure. (Reporting by Ar-rum Rho)