이 기사는 2021년 08월 13일 07:57 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

Kakao Pay, the financial technology arm of mobile giant Kakao, is expected to resume its initial public offering (IPO) process in early September, after other big-name companies make their stock market debuts.

Kakao Pay considers submitting its revised prospectus in early September after handing in its half-yearly audit report at the end of this month, industry sources said on Wednesday.

Kakao Pay originally planned to go public as early as July, but the IPO schedule has been pushed back at least two months after the local financial watchdog ordered the company to revise its prospectus. It also had to adjust the schedule so that its IPO timeline doesn’t overlap with that of KakaoBank.

Kakao Pay and its underwriters have mulled over the right timing for the IPO as other major companies like LG Energy Solution (LGES) and Hyundai Heavy Industries aim similar timelines for going public.

Hyundai Heavy Industries recently submitted its prospectus and started the IPO process. It plans to conduct a bookbuilding process by September 3 and conclude the necessary processes by September 10.

LGES aims to submit its registration statement as soon as it gets approval for its IPO from South Korea’s stock exchange. It is highly likely to start its IPO process later this month.

It may unfavorable for Kakao Pay if the company goes public later than others as institutional investors tend to agree to a lock-up provision to get more IPO shares. Funds worth multi-trillion won may be locked in mega-IPOs. LGES is expected to raise more than 10 trillion won ($8.6 billion) in its listing.

There are views that the supply and demand is unlikely to be an issue for Kakao Pay as its listing had attracted strong interest from institutional investors at home and abroad even before the process began. Retail investors’ interest in the IPO is expected to be maintained considering the share price of KakaoBank has stayed strong after its market debut.

Global platform firms which Kakao Pay selected as comparable companies are also showing strong financial performance, with their stock prices being on a bullish run this year.

Transaction volume of Kakao Pay increased to 24.5 trillion won in the second quarter, up 65% year-on-year.

According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s EDGAR filing, PayPal recorded revenue of $6.23 billion in the second quarter, up from $6.03 billion in the first quarter. Its revenue increased to $12.27 billion in the first quarter, up 24% year-on-year.

Square, an American financial services and digital payments company, recorded revenue of $4.68 billion in the second quarter. Its revenue slightly decreased from the previous quarter, but it came in at $9.74 billion won in the first half, up more than three times year-on-year. Its market capitalization increased nearly 15% from $109.2 billion on June 25 to $125.5 billion on Tuesday.

Pagseguro Digital hasn’t announced its second quarter earnings yet, but its market capitalization grew 2.5% to $19 billion from $18.5 billion on June 25. (Reporting by Seok-cheol Choi)