[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] SEOUL, South Korea – (Dec. 2, 2025) – Alipay, the second-largest shareholder of Kakao Pay, has announced the issuance of another overseas exchangeable bond (EB) backed by Kakao Pay shares, marking the second such short-term issuance in just five months. Industry observers suggest this may signal Alipay’s intent to accelerate the reduction of its stake in Kakao Pay.
According to a filing with the Korea Exchange on December 2, Alipay will issue EBs backed by 11,445,638 common shares of Kakao Pay, equivalent to an 8.47% stake. The exchange price is set at KRW 54,744 per share, based on the December 2 closing exchange rate of KRW 1,392.40 per USD, for a total value of approximately KRW 626.6 billion. The bonds will be issued on January 2, 2026, and mature in three months, on March 29, 2026.
This follows a similar move in July, when Alipay issued overseas EBs backed by 4,796,168 Kakao Pay shares, representing a 3.55% stake, also with a three-month maturity.
If all bonds from the latest issuance are exchanged into shares, Alipay’s stake in Kakao Pay would decline from 27.91% to 19.44%, though it would remain the company’s second-largest shareholder.
Market analysts note that the back-to-back issuances resemble block deals in practice, suggesting Alipay is seeking alternative methods to secure liquidity amid mounting pressure to recover its investment. Alipay has previously executed block sales of Kakao Pay shares, offloading 3.8% (5 million shares) in June 2022 and 2.2% (2.95 million shares) in March 2023.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
