The Closing Public Offering Super Week... IPOs Continue in the Second Half

Rise of Small and Mid-Cap IPOs
Large IPOs Like Hyundai Heavy Industries Still Scheduled

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The "super week" of large-scale public offerings, which saw a flood of subscription applications since the end of last month, is coming to a close. The IPO market is expected to remain robust in September with a series of large-scale initial public offerings (IPOs) scheduled.

According to the financial investment industry on the 15th, a total of 13 companies excluding special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), including KakaoBank (Kabang), Krafton, HK Inno.N, D&D Platform REITs, WantedLab, Hancom Lifecare, MRO, Platier, Ajou Steel, Deepnoid, Lotte Rental, Brains Company, and VigenCell, received public subscription applications over the past three weeks.

The total amount raised by these 13 companies reached 8.7043 trillion KRW. Among them, Krafton accounted for 4.3098 trillion KRW and Kabang for 2.5526 trillion KRW, representing a significant portion. The total public offering amount of these 13 companies far exceeds the 5.7888 trillion KRW raised by 76 newly listed companies last year.

The outcomes of the large-scale public offerings were mixed. Despite controversy over overvaluation, Kabang gathered subscription deposits totaling 58.302 trillion KRW. It debuted on the 6th with a limit-up price, closing the day at the top, entering the KOSPI with a market capitalization of 33 trillion KRW and ranking 11th on the KOSPI.

However, Krafton, which held its subscription on the 2nd and 3rd, failed to overcome overvaluation concerns, with its stock price falling below the public offering price after listing, resulting in a lackluster performance. Although multiple subscriptions were allowed, Krafton's subscription deposits amounted to only 5.0358 trillion KRW, with a competition rate of just 7.79 to 1.

The rise of small and mid-sized public offerings was notable. WantedLab, a recruitment platform company that held subscriptions during the same period as Krafton, raised 5.5291 trillion KRW in subscription deposits, surpassing Krafton. WantedLab, which raised 25.6 billion KRW in its public offering, saw its stock price double from the offering price and hit the upper limit on the KOSDAQ on the 11th, achieving the so-called "ttasang" (double price limit-up). Platier, a digital platform company that raised 19.8 billion KRW, also gathered subscription deposits of 6.1846 trillion KRW and succeeded in hitting the upper limit on the 12th after listing.

Large-scale IPOs are also scheduled for next month. Hyundai Heavy Industries submitted its securities registration statement on the 10th and has officially started the listing process on the KOSPI market. It is expected to complete institutional demand forecasting and general subscription in early next month and list in September. The desired public offering price is between 52,000 KRW and 60,000 KRW, with a maximum offering amount of 1.08 trillion KRW.

KakaoPay is also expected to resume its IPO schedule next month. Although KakaoPay submitted its securities registration statement last month, it received correction requests from the Financial Supervisory Service. Given the overvaluation controversy, attention is focused on whether KakaoPay will lower its desired public offering price from the previously proposed 63,000 KRW to 96,000 KRW range and submit a corrected registration statement.

LG Energy Solution, a battery business subsidiary of LG Chem, which submitted a preliminary review application for listing on the KOSPI market to the Korea Exchange in June, is also aiming for a listing within this year. Considering that the review usually takes about two months, the review results for LG Energy Solution are expected soon.

Other companies such as shipping company SM Shipping, Netmarble subsidiary Netmarble Neo, used car platform K Car, and RBW, the agency of girl group Mamamoo, have also applied for preliminary listing reviews with the exchange and are awaiting results.