Public Offering 'Super Week' Opens... Kakao Bank, Krafton, and Others Enter the Stock Market One After Another

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] Starting from the end of this month, the so-called 'IPO Superweek' will begin, during which large-scale public offerings such as KakaoBank (Kabang) and Krafton will have a flood of general subscriptions.

According to the financial investment industry on the 25th, KakaoBank will accept subscriptions from general investors on the Korea Exchange from the 26th to the 27th. 25% of the total public offering volume, amounting to 16,362,500 shares, will be allocated to general subscribers. Half of these will be distributed equally, and the other half will be allocated proportionally.

Individual investors can subscribe through the lead underwriter KB Securities and the underwriting companies Korea Investment & Securities, Hana Financial Investment, and Hyundai Motor Securities. Duplicate subscriptions through multiple securities firms are not allowed. The subscription volumes by securities firm are as follows: KB Securities with 8,810,577 shares, the largest amount, followed by Korea Investment & Securities with 5,978,606 shares, Hana Financial Investment with 943,990 shares, and Hyundai Motor Securities with 629,327 shares.

Previously, Kabang received a record-breaking order amounting to 2,585 trillion won in the institutional investor demand forecast, drawing attention to whether it will succeed in the general subscription as well. The current highest subscription deposit record is 8 trillion 91 billion won, set by SK IE Technology (SKIET) in April.

Based on the public offering price, Kabang's expected market capitalization is 18.5 trillion won. Although this is slightly below KB Financial Group's 21.7052 trillion won, the leading financial stock, the industry believes that it is only a matter of time before Kabang becomes the number one financial stock, considering that the opening price is usually higher than the public offering price.

Krafton, with a public offering size of up to 4 trillion won, will open general subscriptions on June 2nd and 3rd. The institutional investor demand forecast will close on the 27th, and the public offering price will be finalized. The expected price range is 400,000 to 498,000 won. After the Financial Supervisory Service requested a revision of the securities registration statement, Krafton lowered its public offering price from the previous 458,000 to 557,000 won range.

Subscriptions will be accepted through the lead underwriter Mirae Asset Securities, joint underwriter NH Investment & Securities, and underwriting company Samsung Securities. Unlike Kabang, duplicate subscriptions through multiple securities firms are allowed. This is because Krafton submitted its first securities registration statement before June 20th, when duplicate subscriptions for public offerings are prohibited, and the regulatory change applies based on the initial submission date of the registration statement.

Early next month, subscriptions are scheduled consecutively for WantedLab (June 2-3), MRO and Platier (June 4-5), Hancom Lifecare and Deepnoid (June 5-6). So far, 15 companies have scheduled subscription dates. KakaoPay, which originally planned to conduct subscriptions in early August, has postponed its listing schedule due to the Financial Supervisory Service's request for a revision of the securities registration statement.