K bank, Toss aim to differentiate from KakaoBank in their IPO plans
KakaoBank headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province / NewsisBy Anna J. ParkFollowing KakaoBank's stock price plunge over the past year, K bank and Toss Bank, the country's two other internet-only banks, are focusing on differentiating themselves from KakaoBank in their initial public offering (IPO) strategies. KakaoBank was the first digital bank to go public last August, meeting success initially. The bank's innovative and accessible platform was evaluated highly, with its market cap once exceeding 40 trillion won ($30.5 billion) in the first few months after its listing on the benchmark KOSPI last year. But the digital bank's market cap shrank to 14.9 trillion won, as of Wednesday, now that the market's initial overvaluation of the bank has faded. While the stock price has nosedived by half since the start of this year, brokerage firms continue to publish analysis reports, lowering their target prices for the bank further. Because of KakaoBank's disappointing downward stock movement over the past year, K bank and Toss Bank, which have also been preparing for their own IPOs, are t
