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Yanolja s ties with Citigroup could unnerve Morgan Stanley
Posted : 2021-05-25 16:44
US firms may compete to handle Korean app operator s IPO
By Park Jae-hyuk
The strategic partnership signed between Yanolja and Citibank Korea last Friday has been seen by market insiders as Citigroup s initial effort to take part in the hotel booking app operator s listing on a foreign stock market.
This has also been regarded as a potential threat to Morgan Stanley, which has long been viewed as the strongest candidate to become a foreign underwriter for the Korean firm s planned initial public offering (IPO) overseas.
Both Yanolja and Citibank Korea explained that their latest partnership was merely intended to help the former expand its presence in the global market using Citigroup s worldwide network and to enable the bank to offer global payment services specialized for the hospitality industry.
By Anna J. Park
Viva Republica, the operator of mobile-based financial application Toss, is currently seeking to raise 200 billion won ($177 million) in investments on its corporate valuation of 8 trillion won.
According to the investment banking industry, Bank of America Merrill Lynch recently distributed information about Toss to major investors both inside and outside of Korea.
The mobile fintech company s valuation skyrocketed by more than 2.6 times in just nine months considering the fact that it was valued at around three trillion won last summer, when the firm attracted a total of 206 billion won.
The fast-rising valuation is attributed to market expectations that Toss will grow further to become a financial super app, which includes various financial transaction functions in one application, such as Toss Payments and Toss Securities. Toss Bank, which is expected to be launched later this year as the nation s third internet-only bank following K bank and Kakao Bank, is a