'SK Square Subsidiaries' One Store and SK Shieldus to Join KOSPI in May

Submission of Securities Registration Statement on the 31st... April Institutional Demand Forecast
One Store up to 197 billion KRW · Shielders up to 560.8 billion KRW

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] SK Square subsidiaries, the native app store One Store and security specialist SK Shielders (formerly ADT Caps), will enter the KOSPI market in May. One Store and SK Shielders announced on the 31st that they submitted securities registration statements to the Financial Services Commission and began the public offering process. The public offering funds are expected to be up to 197 billion KRW and 560.8 billion KRW respectively, to be used for technology investment and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) funds.

App Store One Store to Raise up to 197 Billion KRW

One Store CEO Jaehwan Lee

One Store's desired public offering price ranges from 34,300 to 41,700 KRW, with a public offering size of 162 billion to 197 billion KRW. Based on the lowest price of the offering band, 34,300 KRW, the net proceeds after deducting sales proceeds and issuance costs are expected to be around 159.7 billion KRW.

One Store plans to use the funds raised through the public offering for operating expenses and acquisition of securities by 2023. The operating funds of 47.7 billion KRW will be used to strengthen the cross-platform business, build a global app market platform, and secure original IP for the story business. Approximately 112 billion KRW will be used for establishing joint ventures with local partners in Europe and North America, investing in global joint ventures, and setting up promising future industry funds such as games, Stoll, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

SK Shielders to Raise 560.8 Billion KRW

Jinhyo Park, CEO of SK Shieldus

SK Shielders, the second-largest security company in Korea, has a desired public offering price range of 31,000 to 38,800 KRW, with a public offering size of 448 billion to 560.8 billion KRW. Based on the lowest price of 31,000 KRW, the net proceeds are expected to be about 442.3 billion KRW.

SK Shielders plans to allocate 130 billion KRW for operating funds, 135 billion KRW for debt repayment, and 177.3 billion KRW for acquisition of securities. By 2023, through acquisition of securities, it aims to equip global cloud security solutions and secure artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics technologies. In particular, it plans to expand cooperation targets beyond its core cyber and physical security businesses to unmanned stores and senior care. It will also repay 135 billion KRW, which is 30% of the long-term borrowings of 1.7133 trillion KRW inherited during the merger with Life & Security Holdings at the end of 2020.

SK Square Takes a Breather... Who’s Next?

With SK Shielders and One Store, the first IPOs after SK Square's split, overcoming the listing hurdle, SK Square has also taken a breather. As of the end of 2021, SK Square, which transformed into an investment specialist company in November last year, had a net asset value (NAV) of about 26 trillion KRW. It is also preparing for subsidiary listings and expanding domestic and international business partnerships. Park Jung-ho, CEO (Vice Chairman) of SK Square, emphasized in a shareholder letter on the 24th, "Our sole goal in 2022 is to become an investment specialist company that prioritizes shareholder value," adding, "Portfolio companies that have completed IPO preparations will prove their value through listings within this year and achieve greater growth based on public offering funds." In the future, T Map Mobility, Content Wave, and 11st are also expected to follow the listing process.

Meanwhile, these two companies will conduct demand forecasting targeting institutional investors in April and will accept general subscriptions on May 2-3 and May 9-10, respectively. They are scheduled to enter the KOSPI market in mid-May.