[비즈한국] OK Financial Group has been selected as the preferred bidder for the acquisition of Yebyeol Insurance. The entity leading the acquisition is OK Next. OK Next secured a 40.26% stake in the common shares of OK Holdings Daebu, which serves as the holding company for OK Financial Group, in 2024. Should the acquisition of Yebyeol Insurance be completed, the influence of OK Next is expected to grow further. The largest shareholder of OK Next is the Japanese corporation J&K Capital, and the largest shareholder of J&K Capital is Choi Yoon, Chairman of OK Financial Group.
According to the financial sector, the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation has selected OK Next as the preferred bidder for Yebyeol Insurance. After granting an exclusive negotiation period, the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation plans to proceed with subsequent steps, including acquisition negotiations and the signing of a Stock Purchase Agreement (SPA).
What stands out is that the entity acquiring Yebyeol Insurance is OK Next, an affiliate of OK Financial Group. The company that functions as the de facto holding company for OK Financial Group in Korea is OK Holdings Daebu. Major affiliates, including OK Savings Bank, OK Capital, Apro Credit Information (formerly OK Credit Information), and OK Ventures, are all subsidiaries of OK Holdings Daebu.
OK Financial Group explained that it chose OK Next, rather than OK Holdings Daebu, as the acquisition vehicle to account for capital levels. According to audit reports, OK Next's total equity at the end of last year was 3.1427 trillion won, significantly higher than OK Holdings Daebu’s 1.6701 trillion won. Additionally, since OK Holdings Daebu is engaged in its own lending business, OK Next may have more flexibility in terms of subsidiary management. An official from OK Financial Group stated, "OK Next was chosen as the acquisition entity because it has superior capital strength."
OK Next is an investment specialist firm and has relatively low brand awareness compared to OK Savings Bank or OK Capital, which deal directly with customers. However, its influence cannot be ignored given that it is the second-largest shareholder of OK Holdings Daebu. Based on common shares, the largest shareholder of OK Holdings Daebu is Chairman Choi Yoon with a 58.21% stake, while the second-largest shareholder is OK Next with a 40.26% stake.
In the past, OK Next held only 481,535 shares of OK Holdings Daebu preferred stock. Later, it participated in a 330 billion won capital increase in 2024 to secure 7,124,353 shares of common stock. If OK Next completes the acquisition of Yebyeol Insurance, its corporate scale and influence are expected to expand further.
The largest shareholder of OK Next is the Japanese corporation J&K Capital, which holds a 98.84% stake. J&K Capital was established by Chairman Choi Yoon in 2004 to acquire the Japanese-affiliated lending firm A&O Group. At the time, the Japanese government had required the acquisition of A&O Group to be conducted through a Japanese legal entity. Chairman Choi Yoon currently owns 100% of J&K Capital.
Considering the shareholding structure, as the influence of OK Next grows, the influence of J&K Capital will be reinforced accordingly. Given that J&K Capital is a Japanese corporation, this may be viewed negatively by the domestic public. Because of this, OK Financial Group has been making efforts to shed the image of being "Japanese-affiliated lending capital." OK Financial Group maintains that it is unfair to take issue with it being a Japanese entity, as Chairman Choi Yoon, a South Korean national, owns 100% of J&K Capital.
If the performance of Yebyeol Insurance does not recover after the acquisition, it could potentially increase the financial burden on OK Next. OK Next has provided significant funds to OK Financial Group affiliates in the past and continues to serve as a practical source of financial support. As of the end of last year, the bonds of affiliates held by OK Next reached 1.7821 trillion won. This means that if financial problems arise at OK Next, it could negatively affect the entire OK Financial Group. Since returning its lending license in 2023, OK Next's profits have also decreased significantly.
Kwak Soo-yeon, a senior analyst at Korea Investors Service, analyzed, "Loans to affiliates, which make up about 96% of OK Next's assets, are mainly support for OK Holdings Daebu and Apro F&I Daebu. We believe that the burden of supporting affiliates will persist to some degree in the second half of 2026. Considering factors such as the continued demand for funds to purchase non-performing personal loans resulting from the expansion of affiliate operations, the financial support burden on OK Next appears set to continue for the time being."