This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 4:28 p.m. on Jan. 30, 2026.
Kbank, making its third attempt to list on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), has ramped up efforts to persuade domestic and overseas institutional investors ahead of next month's book-building. After deal roadshows (DR) in Hong Kong and Singapore, the bank has reportedly set a plan to hold investor relations (IR) sessions for domestic institutional investors starting next week.
Kbank has reportedly scheduled IR even through the last day of institutional book-building, Feb. 10. In addition to the listing deadline promised this year to financial investors (FI), the largest shareholder, BC Card, has pulled out a make-whole card, making the securing of institutional investors the key task for the listing.
According to the investment banking (IB) and securities industries on the 30th, Kbank, together with its listing underwriters, conducted back-to-back overseas DR in Hong Kong and Singapore from the 26th through the day. Hong Kong and Singapore are hubs for institutional investors highly interested in Korean initial public offerings, and Kbank actively encouraged participation in book-building during the DR.
Kbank plans to continue IR in Korea next week. From Feb. 2 through the last day of institutional book-building on the 10th, it will work to persuade participation in the book-building. According to the securities registration statement submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service, the institutional book-building schedule runs from Feb. 4 to 10.
A securities industry source said, "Typically, IR for institutional investors wraps up around the middle of the book-building period," adding, "Kbank scheduling IR through the final day of book-building appears to be a 'last-ditch' resolve to meet even one more institutional investor and persuade them to the end."
Analysis suggests that BC Card, the largest shareholder, strongly influenced Kbank's all-out push for IR until the end. Before this listing push, BC Card signed a shareholders' agreement to compensate up to 110 billion won if the offer price falls short of FIs' expected return.
In July 2021, Kbank received a total of 725 billion won at 6,500 won per share from FIs including Bain Capital, MBK Partners, MG Community Credit Cooperatives, and Com2uS. At that time, Kbank proposed to FIs that it would carry out an initial public offering (IPO) by July 2026 and guarantee an annual internal rate of return (IRR) of at least 8%.
The so-called "eligible IPO" offer price to meet the promised return is estimated at around 9,250 won. This applies a period of about 4.6 years from the investment point (July 2021) to the scheduled listing point (Feb. 2026), and is near the top end of Kbank's indicative price range (8,300–9,500 won).
If weak book-building sets the offer price at the bottom end of 8,300 won, BC Card must make up a shortfall of about 950 won per share for 111,538,464 shares eligible for compensation. In that case, BC Card's total compensation would be about 106 billion won, nearly reaching the set limit of 110 billion won.
An IB industry source said, "From BC Card's standpoint, it has no choice but to push Kbank for aggressive IR to defend the top of the offer price range and minimize compensation outlays," adding, "If book-building fizzles and the listing falls through again, FIs' tag-along rights could be exercised."
Meanwhile, Kbank plans to offer a total of 60 million shares (including 30 million existing shares) in this listing. Based on the indicative price range, the offering size is estimated at 498 billion–570 billion won, and the market capitalization at listing is estimated at 3.3673 trillion–3.8541 trillion won. Compared with its 2024 listing attempt, it cut the expected market cap at listing by about 20%.