Korea Investment & Securities Acquires KakaoBank Shares with 3.4 Trillion Won Investment

Acquisition of 110.48 million shares for approximately 2.9113 trillion KRW

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Korea Investment Financial Group and Korea Investment Value Asset Management have sold their holdings of KakaoBank shares to Korea Investment & Securities.

Korea Financial Group announced on the 22nd that its subsidiary, Korea Investment & Securities, acquired 110,484,081 shares of KakaoBank from Korea Investment Value Asset Management for approximately 2.9113 trillion KRW. Korea Financial Group also sold 19,049,643 shares of KakaoBank for about 502 billion KRW.

Korea Investment & Securities additionally acquired KakaoBank shares worth 3.413 trillion KRW. It is the second-largest shareholder, holding 27.18% (129,533,724 shares) of KakaoBank.

Korea Investment & Securities plans to raise 300 billion KRW through a rights offering. Korea Investment Financial Group owns 100% of Korea Investment & Securities.

Korea Financial Group explained that this move aims to improve proprietary asset yield and clarify the ownership structure of shares in the group’s bank.

The Financial Services Commission held a regular meeting the previous day and approved Korea Investment & Securities’ application for “exceeding the individual ownership limit on KakaoBank shares.” Under the Internet Banking Special Act, industrial capital can hold up to 34% of internet bank shares. However, holding more than 10%, 25%, or 33% requires approval from the Financial Services Commission respectively.