Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Douglas Research Advisory

Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>Our base case valuation of K Bank is target price of 11,986 won per share, which is 26% higher than the high end of the IPO price range.</li>
<li>A key reason why we have chosen a 30% premium valuation multiple (P/B of 2.0x) is mainly due to increasing positive sentiment from the stablecoin business.</li>
<li>BOK and other key financial authorities have been debating how to regulate stablecoins with proposals favoring bank-led stablecoin consortia which could favor licensed banks such as KakaoBank and K Bank.</li>
</ul>


Our base case valuation of K Bank is target price of 11,986 won per share, which is 26% higher than the high end of the IPO price range.
A key reason why we have chosen a 30% premium valuation multiple (P/B of 2.0x) is mainly due to increasing positive sentiment from the stablecoin business.
BOK and other key financial authorities have been debating how to regulate stablecoins with proposals favoring bank-led stablecoin consortia which could favor licensed banks such as KakaoBank and K Bank.


K Bank IPO Valuation Analysis (Key Beneficiary of Stablecoin Expansion in Korea)

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/k-bank-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:36073:1" rel="noopener">K Bank (279570 KS)</a> now plans to raise up to US$380m in its upcoming South Korean IPO, after having cancelled its 2024 listing.</li>
<li>K Bank is one of three Internet-only banks in Korea. It provides a full range of commercial banking products and services.</li>
<li>We looked at the refiling updates in our previous note, in this note we provide an updated peer comparison and our thoughts on valuations.</li>
</ul>



K Bank (279570 KS) now plans to raise up to US$380m in its upcoming South Korean IPO, after having cancelled its 2024 listing.
K Bank is one of three Internet-only banks in Korea. It provides a full range of commercial banking products and services.
We looked at the refiling updates in our previous note, in this note we provide an updated peer comparison and our thoughts on valuations.


Aequitas: K Bank IPO - Refiling Updates - Updated Peer Comp and Thoughts on 2026 Valuation

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/k-bank-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:36073:1" rel="noopener">K Bank (279570 KS)</a> now plans to raise up to US$380m in its upcoming South Korean IPO, after having cancelled its 2024 listing.</li>
<li>K Bank is one of three Internet-only banks in Korea. It provides a full range of commercial banking products and services.</li>
<li>In this note, we look at the updates from its recent filings.</li>
</ul>



K Bank (279570 KS) now plans to raise up to US$380m in its upcoming South Korean IPO, after having cancelled its 2024 listing.
K Bank is one of three Internet-only banks in Korea. It provides a full range of commercial banking products and services.
In this note, we look at the updates from its recent filings.


Aequitas: K Bank IPO - Refiling Updates - No Longer Growing Fast, Still with Issues

<ul>
<li>K Bank is getting ready to complete its IPO on the KOSPI exchange in February 2026. This is the company's third attempt at an IPO in the past several years. </li>
<li>The IPO price range is from 8,300 won to 9,500 won, resulting in an offering value of approximately 498 billion to 570 billion won.</li>
<li>The expected market caps range from 3.4 trillion won to 3.9 trillion won which are lower than the previous market cap range of 4.0 trillion won to 5.0 trillion won.</li>
</ul>


K Bank is getting ready to complete its IPO on the KOSPI exchange in February 2026. This is the company's third attempt at an IPO in the past several years. 
The IPO price range is from 8,300 won to 9,500 won, resulting in an offering value of approximately 498 billion to 570 billion won.
The expected market caps range from 3.4 trillion won to 3.9 trillion won which are lower than the previous market cap range of 4.0 trillion won to 5.0 trillion won.


K Bank IPO Preview (Third Try Is a Charm?)

Financials & FinTech research, Galliano’s Financials Research

Victor Galliano

Financials & FinTech research

Financials & FinTech, EM & Developed Markets

Galliano’s Financials Research

Galliano's Financials Research provides fundamental research in Emerging Markets financials, including FinTech, as well as financials in select Developed Markets.

The investment style applied is generally value oriented, although Growth At Reasonable Price (GARP) strategies can also be used where appropriate. 

Our investment research approach aim is often contrarian, looking to capitalise on overly sceptical or optimistic consensus views. In terms of valuation techniques, the focus is on PBV ratio to ROE, PE multiples and dividend yield, as well as the application of PEG ratios and, where appropriate, Sum of the Parts (SOTP) valuations.

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Inter, our “pain trade” in 2Q 2026, remains our sole buy in EM neobanks; Inter offers a balanced business model, with improving execution and controlled credit delinquency, alongside attractive valuations</li>
<li>Nubank delivers strong operational returns along with its high activity rate, yet we stay neutral due to challenging credit quality trends and valuations; we view PicPay and Agibank with caution</li>
<li>We include K Bank of South Korea and Superbank of Indonesia in our EM neobanks coverage; K Bank looks attractively valued, but we believe the business model is high risk</li>
</ul>


Inter, our “pain trade” in 2Q 2026, remains our sole buy in EM neobanks; Inter offers a balanced business model, with improving execution and controlled credit delinquency, alongside attractive valuations
Nubank delivers strong operational returns along with its high activity rate, yet we stay neutral due to challenging credit quality trends and valuations; we view PicPay and Agibank with caution
We include K Bank of South Korea and Superbank of Indonesia in our EM neobanks coverage; K Bank looks attractively valued, but we believe the business model is high risk


EM Neobanks – Stick with Inter (INTR US) As Our Sole Buy Rating

South Korea

K Bank Co. Ltd. operates banking businesses. The Company provides deposits, withdrawals, loans, and other services. K Bank conducts businesses in South Korea.

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K Bank (279570 KS)

K Bank IPO Valuation Analysis (Key Beneficiary of Stablecoin Expansion in Korea)

K Bank's IPO bookbuilding started on 4 February. Since our last report (14 January), Kakaobank (323410 KS) (key comp)'s share price is up 17%....

Douglas Kim

Aequitas: K Bank IPO - Refiling Updates - Updated Peer Comp and Thoughts on 2026 Valuation

K Bank (279570 KS) now plans to raise up to US$380m in its upcoming South Korean IPO, after having cancelled its 2024 listing. In this note, we...

Sumeet Singh

Aequitas: K Bank IPO - Refiling Updates - No Longer Growing Fast, Still with Issues

K Bank (279570 KS) now plans to raise up to US$380m in its upcoming South Korean IPO, after having cancelled its 2024 listing. In this note, we...

Sumeet Singh

K Bank IPO Preview (Third Try Is a Charm?)

K Bank is getting ready to complete its IPO on the KOSPI exchange in February 2026. This is the company's third attempt at an IPO in the past...

Douglas Kim

EM Neobanks – Stick with Inter (INTR US) As Our Sole Buy Rating

Inter is our buy in EM neobank, offering a balanced business model, with improving execution, controlled NPLs and attractive valuations; Nubank is...

Victor Galliano

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