This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 4:07 p.m. on Sep. 8, 2026.
STIC Investments and Eugene Private Equity (PE) are reviewing whether to exit the equity they invested in KB Kookmin Bank's Indonesian subsidiary KB Bank (formerly KB Bukopin Bank). The put option exercise window set at the time of investment has opened. If the STIC–Eugene PE consortium exercises the put option, KB Kookmin Bank must buy back the equity at a price that adds a certain return to the principal investment.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 8th, the special purpose company (SPC) "STIC Eugene Star Holdings," established by the STIC–Eugene PE consortium, has entered the period during which it can exercise the put option on KB Bank Indonesia equity. The exercise window runs until May next year. Earlier, in May 2023, STIC–Eugene PE participated in KB Bank's paid-in capital increase and acquired 31.9 billion new shares for about 3.19 trillion rupiah (about 250 billion won at the time). The equity stake is about 17%, making it the No. 2 shareholder after KB Kookmin Bank.
At the time, the investment contract set both a call option for KB Kookmin Bank and a put option for the FI side. The structure allowed KB Kookmin Bank to first exercise a call option to purchase the FI equity within a certain period, and after that window, allowed STIC–Eugene PE to exercise a put option to sell the equity back to KB Kookmin Bank.
The put option exercise price is determined under the investment contract, not by KB Bank's share price at the time of exercise. It is known to add a yield that reflects a 3%-range bank bond rate and an additional spread to the principal investment. Accordingly, if the put option is exercised, the amount KB Kookmin Bank would have to pay is expected to exceed the initial investment of about 250 billion won.
From STIC–Eugene PE's perspective, KB Bank's currently low share price is a factor that increases the appeal of the put option. KB Bank shares have recently hovered around 50 rupiah, roughly half the around-100-rupiah level at the time of investment. If they dispose of the equity in the market, it would be hard to recoup the principal, so the value of the put option—which allows a sale to KB Kookmin Bank at the contract price—has grown.
Still, it is uncertain whether STIC–Eugene PE will exercise the put option right away. The window remains open until May next year, and there is ample time to further check whether KB Bank's performance improves and how the share price moves.
KB Bank had run losses for a long time but turned profitable for the first time last year with net income of 13 billion rupiah. In the first quarter of this year, it also posted 9 billion rupiah in profit before provision and operating profit (PPOP) and 2 billion rupiah in net income. However, as second-quarter PPOP fell back into the red at -62 billion rupiah, it is hard to say a structure for stable operating profit has taken hold. Cumulative PPOP for the first half is -53 billion rupiah.
Net interest income is showing improvement. KB Bank's first-half net interest income was 688.776 billion rupiah, up 53.1% from a year earlier. Second-quarter net interest income was 326.062 billion rupiah, up 22.8% from the same period last year. However, as non-interest income worsened due to expanded valuation losses on securities following interest rate hikes, the PPOP improvement did not continue.
Ultimately, whether STIC–Eugene PE exercises the put option is expected to depend on the pace of normalization in KB Bank's results and its share price trend. If KB Bank strengthens its operating fundamentals and leads a share price rebound, the FI could delay the timing of the exit; but if improvement is delayed and share price weakness persists, the possibility grows that they will use the put option to recover the investment.
Restructuring of KB Kookmin Bank's Indonesia business is also a variable. KB Kookmin Bank recently won approval from local financial authorities for a plan to establish a financial holding company. It is pushing to transfer its 66.88% equity in KB Bank to the local financial holding company. Accordingly, how to handle the equity of the No. 2 shareholder, STIC Eugene Star Holdings, is expected to be a variable in the forthcoming governance reorganization.
An industry official said, "KB Kookmin Bank's call option was understood to carry several conditions, including the share price level over a certain period," adding, "Since the FI's put option exercise window remains open until May next year, the stance is to watch KB Bank's share price and performance rather than exercise it immediately."