Kakao Bank to launch 500 billion won rights offer

Kakao Bank, Korea’s second Internet-only bank, said Thursday it will launch a rights offering worth 500 billion won ($467.7 million) by April to beef up its capital.

It will be the second time that Kakao Bank, which was launched last July, raised its capital via a rights offer.

If successful, Kakao Bank’s capital will be raised to 1.3 trillion won.

The new capital hike will be made by issuing 200 billion won worth of common shares and 300 billion won worth of preferred shares, the bank said.

Kakao Bank said new funds are needed to cope with a “rapid rise in assets and launches of new products and services.” Major shareholders of Kakao Bank, including Korea Investment Holdings and Kookmin Bank, are said to have subscribed to the capital increase, according to a market source. Kakao Bank’s consortium also includes eBay and China’s Tencent Holdings.

Yonhap