'Fourth Investment Already'... IMM Investment Acts on Musinsa's Moves

Increasing Stake Amid Musinsa's IPO Preparations

IMM Investment has made its fourth investment in Musinsa. It appears that the firm increased its stake as Musinsa began preparations for an initial public offering (IPO).

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on April 28, IMM Investment recently acquired an additional 10 billion KRW worth of existing Musinsa shares. The company’s valuation is reportedly around 3 trillion KRW, with the price per share set at approximately 15,000 KRW.

Musinsa logo. Musinsa

This marks IMM Investment’s fourth investment in Musinsa. The first investment was made in 2020. At that time, IMM Investment, along with several venture capital (VC) firms, purchased about 10 billion KRW worth of existing Musinsa shares. In 2021, IMM Investment acquired 120 billion KRW worth of redeemable convertible preferred shares (RCPS) issued by Musinsa.

Back in 2021, Musinsa was one of the unicorns highly sought after by various domestic investment firms. Although many investors showed interest, IMM Investment was able to secure the investment opportunity by participating in the acquisition of existing Musinsa shares, thereby maintaining a close relationship with the company. IMM Investment made an additional investment in 2023 as well.

This fourth investment by IMM Investment appears to reflect expectations that Musinsa’s IPO will be a success. Musinsa maintains a dominant position in the fashion platform sector. Last year, the company surpassed 1 trillion KRW in revenue, achieving significant growth in scale and turning a profit.

Musinsa is now actively moving forward with its IPO process. Recently, the company decided to change the status of its unlisted shares from being tradable only by professional investors to being tradable by general investors as well. Typically, shares of unlisted companies are considered high-risk and can only be traded by investors certified as professionals. To switch shares from professional investor tradable status to general investor tradable status, the company must submit business reports and demonstrate that the risk level is lower.

As a result, the industry believes that the decision to allow general investors to trade the shares is part of preparations for the IPO. In fact, Musinsa is currently meeting with securities industry officials to gather feedback and is preparing for the process of selecting underwriters.

Under the put option agreement with its existing financial investors, Musinsa was required to complete its IPO by the end of December last year. Although the put option agreement was postponed once, giving the company some flexibility in its schedule, some early investors seeking to recover their investments have begun to release their shares onto the market. In January, China’s global sportswear company Anta Sports purchased 50 billion KRW worth of existing shares.

Meanwhile, IMM Investment has discovered and nurtured numerous unicorn companies like Musinsa, achieving strong results. One notable example is Krafton. IMM Investment provided solid financial support from the company’s early days and backed the success story of its flagship title, "Battlegrounds." When Krafton successfully went public in 2021, IMM Investment achieved an internal rate of return (IRR) of 52%.