Private equity firm MBK Partners on the 21st refuted allegations related to the recent hacking incident at Lotte Card, which it acquired, saying, "The claim that we neglected security-related investment is not true, and we have steadily expanded related investment."
In a briefing document released that day, MBK said, "Security investment expense rose from 7.14 billion won in 2019 to 12.8 billion won in 2025, and internal information security staff increased from 19 in 2019 to 30 this year," adding, "In 2021, under the 'Digiroka' strategy, we temporarily expanded security investment while pursuing the establishment of a DR (disaster recovery) system and the advancement of backup systems."
MBK said, "The share of security investment relative to total IT expense is also being maintained at around 10–12%." Regarding allegations that it received excessive dividends from Lotte Card to recoup its investment, MBK said, "The dividends payout is at a stable level."
MBK explained, "The dividends payout ratio over the past four years has been 20–28%, similar to the average of domestic listed companies and lower than the average dividends payout ratio of 30% or more at large financial holding companies," adding, "The claim that the parent company neglected management oversight to pursue a short-term revenue-first stance is not consistent with the facts."
Lotte Card is facing growing controversy after it was revealed that, due to a server hack, information on 2.97 million members—about one-third of all members—was leaked. MBK is Korea's largest private equity firm and acquired Lotte Card from Lotte Group in 2019.