[Special Stock] KakaoPay Fails to Hit 'Ttah-sang' but Ranks 13th in KOSPI Market Cap

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] On the first day of Kakao Pay's stock market debut on the 3rd, trading started at twice the public offering price, showing a strong rise of over 4%. Kakao Pay's corporate value exceeded 24 trillion won, ranking 13th in market capitalization on the Korea Exchange.

On this day, Kakao Pay's opening price was set at 180,000 won, twice the public offering price (90,000 won). Shortly after the market opened, the price exceeded 200,000 won, but as of 9:15 AM, it is trading at 184,000 won, up 1.94% from the opening price. The market capitalization stands at 24.3786 trillion won, ranking 13th following POSCO.

Kakao Pay, considered the last major public offering of the year, faced controversy over 'overvaluation' before its listing. Additionally, regulatory issues arose due to the enforcement of the Financial Consumer Protection Act (FCPA), causing the listing to be postponed.

During the demand forecast conducted on the 20th and 21st of last month, 1,545 institutions participated, recording a competition rate of 1,714 to 1. 99.99% of participating institutions submitted bids at or above the highest desired public offering price of 90,000 won, setting the public offering price at 90,000 won. Notably, the ratio of mandatory lock-up agreements, where institutions promised not to sell shares for a minimum of 1 month and a maximum of 6 months, was 70.44%, higher than Kakao Bank's 55%. This is also the highest figure among IPOs exceeding 1 trillion won since 2014.

Subsequently, during the general public subscription on the 25th and 26th of last month, a competition rate of 29.6 to 1 was recorded, attracting deposits totaling 5.6608 trillion won.