Kakao shares plunged as much as 9.5% on Monday to their lowest since May 2020, wiping out 2 trillion won ($1.39 billion) in market capitalisation at one point, while shares in affiliates KakaoPay (377300.KS) and KakaoBank (323410.KS) lost more than 8% before paring losses. South Korea's technology ministry is probing whether the outage violated any laws while the communications regulator is reviewing the matter, including questions of user compensation, officials said on Sunday. An initial probe on Sunday found electrical issues around battery racks in third basement floor of the data centre, which is operated by SK C&C (034730.KS), may have caused the fire. REPUTATIONAL HITThe Kakao messaging application and the Kakao T taxi booking application are seen on a mobile phone in this illustration photo March 13, 2018. It said on Monday it would discuss compensation with data centre operator SK C&C for losses it and its key units have sustained.

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