Kakao Pay, the mobile payment service for Korea’s largest messenger app operator Kakao Corp., has added Goldman Sachs to its syndicate to underwrite its initial public offering due for the first half of 2020.

Goldman Sachs joins the syndicate after KB Securities last month, according to investment banking sources on Monday.

The investment bank had been absent from the Korean M&A market since it was engaged with OrangeLife, formerly ING Life Insurance Korea Ltd. in 2017. It arranged the market debut of Samsung SDS in 2014.

Kakao Pay hopes to go public either in Kospi or the smaller Kosdaq next year.

The competition to the underwriting team is intense as the mobile payment company is estimated to value 5 trillion won ($4.44 billion) before IPO.

Nomura Securities projected Kakao Pay’s market value to reach 7 trillion won after listing, and eBest Investment & Securities 9 trillion won.

Kakao Pay currently is owned 56.1 percent by Kakao and 43.9 percent by Alipay Singapore Holding Pte Ltd., the financial unit of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.

Kakao shares rose 1.37 percent to finish at 334,000 won in Seoul on Tuesday.

By Kang Woo-seok and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]