[Featured Stock] Yes24, KakaoBank Valued at 38 Trillion Won with 500 Billion Won Stake Value... 'Will Get Fair Price' Sale Put on Hold

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Yes24's stock price is on the rise. The value of its stake in KakaoBank, which it holds, has regained attention, seemingly influencing the stock price.

As of 9:27 AM on the 20th, Yes24 is trading at 17,700 KRW, up 7.6% from the previous day.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry, Yes24 decided to withdraw the sale of its KakaoBank shares yesterday. After distributing a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and a Request for Proposal (RFP) on the 12th, it received letters of intent to acquire by 6 PM on the 16th, but decided to cancel the sale within a week.

Although the transaction was expected to exceed 100 billion KRW, the decision is interpreted as aiming to gain greater capital gains as KakaoBank’s value steadily increased ahead of its anticipated listing as early as July.

Originally, Yes24 had been pursuing the disposal of its KakaoBank shares since January this year. Yes24 holds 5,681,393 shares of KakaoBank, representing a 1.40% stake. According to the over-the-counter stock trading platform Securities Plus Unlisted, as of the letter of intent submission deadline on the 16th, KakaoBank’s OTC stock price rose to 94,500 KRW. Based on this, the market capitalization is estimated at 38.5232 trillion KRW. The value of shares held by Yes24 exceeds 500 billion KRW.

KakaoBank recorded an operating profit of 122.6 billion KRW last year, fully turning profitable, and with its planned listing this year, its corporate value has soared dramatically. KakaoBank’s corporate value has tripled compared to when Yes24 partially sold its stake in January.

Regarding Yes24’s decision to withdraw the transaction, an IB industry insider said, "There were even parties willing to buy at a price more than double the previous corporate value of 11 trillion KRW, reaching 22 trillion KRW, so I did not expect the deal itself to be canceled like this."