[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Seoyoung] iFamilySC, whose largest shareholder is CEO Kim Taewook, a singer-turned-entrepreneur and husband of actress Chae Sira, is drawing attention as employees anticipate a stock option 'jackpot' worth up to 10 billion KRW amid its planned initial public offering (IPO).
According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 24th, iFamilySC plans to conduct a public subscription for general investors on July 18-19 and list on the KOSDAQ. The expected offering price band ranges from 39,000 KRW to 48,000 KRW, valuing the company at approximately 200 billion KRW post-listing. Based on the upper limit of the offering price, CEO Kim’s stake is estimated to be worth about 56.2 billion KRW, and iFamilySC employees granted stock options are also expected to realize significant gains.
Currently, a total of 209,699 remaining stock options have been granted to 12 iFamilySC employees. Of these, 180,210 shares have an exercise price of 2,000 KRW, and 29,489 shares have an exercise price of 8,000 KRW. At the upper offering price, the profit from these stock options approaches 10 billion KRW.
Among executives, Vice President Yoon Hyuncheol and Managing Director Kim Chunsu hold 49,148 and 16,383 stock options respectively, with estimated gains of approximately 2.2 billion KRW and 700 million KRW based on the upper offering price. They can exercise their stock options from March 31, 2025, through March 30, 2027.
iFamilySC appears to have adopted an aggressive stock option policy post-listing to motivate employees and manage the stock price. Of the stock options, 131,064 shares can be exercised within one year after listing, while the remaining 78,000 shares can be exercised starting in 2023. This staggered exercise schedule is analyzed as a measure to prevent the outflow of key personnel even after the company’s KOSDAQ listing.
iFamilySC originated as iWedding Networks, established in 2000. CEO Kim is known to have formed a connection with the company through his marriage to actress Chae Sira. Since becoming the largest shareholder in 2003, he has grown iFamilySC into a company valued at 200 billion KRW based on the offering price, fueled by the success of the color cosmetics brand 'Rom&nd,' launched in 2016 with beauty creator Min Saerom.
iFamilySC’s performance has grown from 12.7 billion KRW in sales and 100 million KRW in operating profit in 2016 to 79.2 billion KRW in sales and 11.6 billion KRW in operating profit last year. In the first half of this year, it recorded sales of 39.1 billion KRW and operating profit of 2.9 billion KRW, with cosmetics sales accounting for approximately 93% of total sales at 36.4 billion KRW.
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