[IPO Spotlight] QRT, Confidence in Growth with 'Major Shareholder Holding Stake for 2.5 Years'

Largest shareholder holding 82% stake before listing to lock shares for 2 years 6 months
Issuing 990,000 new shares to raise 48.8 billion KRW
Expanding growth opportunities in AI and autonomous driving... 45 billion KRW facility investment

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Semiconductor reliability analysis company QRT is embarking on large-scale facility investments based on funds raised through its initial public offering (IPO). Kim Young-bu, the largest shareholder and CEO, has pledged not to sell any existing shares despite holding a high stake and promised not to sell his shares for 2 years and 6 months.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 6th, QRT is offering 990,500 new shares to go public on the KOSDAQ market. The expected price range per share is 51,400 to 62,900 KRW. It is anticipated to raise at least 48.8 billion KRW.

QRT is the only comprehensive semiconductor analysis specialist in Korea performing reliability testing and analysis on developed chips. It has accumulated over 35 years of reliability evaluation technology since its predecessor, Hyundai Electronics (now SK Hynix). The company possesses world-class analysis equipment and expert technical personnel. It serves more than 1,500 customers worldwide.

QRT generates revenue through semiconductor reliability testing and comprehensive analysis technology evaluation services. It receives testing, analysis, and consulting requests from many clients in the semiconductor industry, including semiconductor equipment manufacturers, fabless companies, and foundries. With the widespread adoption of smartphones and portable electronic devices, the frequency of product drops or exposure to high temperature and humidity environments has increased. Reliability testing of semiconductors under extreme conditions has become crucial.

As the semiconductor reliability testing and analysis market grows, QRT’s sales have also increased. Last year, it recorded sales of 70.5 billion KRW and operating profit of 18.6 billion KRW. In the first half of this year, it achieved sales of 30.4 billion KRW and operating profit of 8.2 billion KRW.

CEO Kim Young-bu graduated from Kwangwoon University with a degree in Applied Electronics Engineering and worked at Control Data Corporation in the U.S., Daeduck Electronics, Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix. Until 2008, he served as Executive Vice President and Head of Quality Assurance at SK Hynix. In 2009, he was appointed CEO of QRT Semiconductor (the predecessor of current QRT), a subsidiary of SK Hynix. In 2014, due to SK Group’s investment restrictions, the company spun off and restarted as QRT. CEO Kim holds 82.16% (2,441,329 shares) of the shares. The remaining 17.84% (530,000 shares) are held by MQ Growth Partners LLC. Both Kim and MQ Growth Partners are subject to mandatory shareholding periods of 2 years and 6 months and 6 months respectively after listing.

QRT, which has no minority shareholders, will issue 990,500 new shares equivalent to 25% of the shares after listing. After listing, CEO Kim’s stake will decrease to 61.6%.

Mirae Asset Securities, the lead underwriter, selected three comparable companies?Anapass, Chips&Media, and Nepes Arc?to determine QRT’s IPO price. Applying an average price-to-earnings ratio (PER) of 23.79 times, QRT’s per-share valuation was estimated at 79,111 KRW. The IPO price range of 51,400 to 62,900 KRW reflects discounts of 20.49% to 35.03%. Demand forecasting for institutional investors will be conducted from the 18th to 19th to finalize the IPO price.

Of the funds raised through the new share offering, QRT plans to allocate 3.8 billion KRW to increase research and development personnel and invest the remaining 45 billion KRW in technology evaluation facilities. Due to the business’s high reliability requirements, it must continuously introduce new evaluation methods and improve systems. To strengthen its capabilities as a global testing and certification institution, QRT will enter the semiconductor cluster in Yongin and enhance collaboration with customers including SK Hynix. It plans to increase research personnel and build infrastructure to develop data-driven intelligent analysis solutions in the SEU and 5G RF equipment business divisions.

Looking at QRT’s sales distribution by customer, as of the first half of this year, sales to domestic IDM company S accounted for 53.8%, indicating a high concentration on a specific client. With the growing importance of testing and certification, new customers are expected to increase. The company anticipates rising demand for analysis services in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, and autonomous driving and is preparing accordingly. QRT plans to develop commercialized semiconductor soft error detection equipment to secure future market leadership. It provides reliability evaluation and comprehensive analysis services not only for semiconductors but also across various sectors. It has also secured capabilities in second battery material characteristic analysis solutions. Based on core analysis technologies for cathode active materials and separators, it provides analysis technology to major domestic battery material companies.