Kakao Mobility pursues US IPO, seeks to raise $1 bil.

Kakao Mobility is reportedly seeking to go public in the United States, aiming to raise around $1 billion through an initial public offering (IPO). This comes four years after the company's initial plans to list on the Korean stock market were unsuccessful. U.S.-based IPO data provider IPOX disclosed that Kakao Mobility had confidentially submitted a draft registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in June, targeting around $1 billion in proceeds.

This confidential submission allows the company to undergo SEC review prior to making any public disclosure of detailed offering information.

If and when the company eventually files for a public offering, specifics such as the exact offering size, price range, and combination of new and existing shares are expected to be disclosed. Financial institutions Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and UBS are reportedly being considered as potential underwriters for the offering.

The prospective U.S. listing represents Kakao Mobility's return to the IPO market after it abandoned plans for a Korean listing in 2022. The company's mobility platform, Kakao T, provides taxi-hailing and delivery services.