[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] SAMG Entertainment is showing strong performance on its first day of listing.
As of 9:49 AM on the 6th, the stock is trading at 21,200 KRW, up 17.45% from the opening price.
SAMG started trading at 18,050 KRW, which is 6.2% higher than the public offering price of 17,000 KRW.
From the 17th to the 18th of last month, a demand forecast was conducted targeting institutional investors, recording a competition rate of 44.73 to 1. Although the expected public offering price range was proposed between 21,600 KRW and 26,700 KRW, the final public offering price was set at 17,000 KRW.
Concerns about overhang and uncertainties regarding the possibility of success in overseas markets influenced the determination of the public offering price.
Researcher Daygyeom Park from Hi Investment & Securities introduced, "The sales of 'Catch! Teenieping,' which accounts for 68% of annual sales and has emerged as a key IP, are generated domestically," and added, "Among the IPs owned by SAMG, 'Mini Force' was introduced on Chinese OTT platforms, leading to a rapid increase in traffic."
He continued, "It surpassed 3.5 billion cumulative views in just 1 year and 4 months," and added, "In 2018, a licensing agreement was signed with Wowotati, a subsidiary of Hengsheng Group." The cumulative sales of Mini Force toys in China reached 89.4 billion KRW by the end of 2021.
Researcher Park predicted, "From the end of this year, 'Catch! Teenieping' will also enter the Chinese market," and said, "Since the product supply structure is direct based on strong domestic success, we can expect positive results."
SAMG has achieved cumulative MD sales of 180 billion KRW in the Chinese market by utilizing the intellectual property (IP) of the popular animation ‘Mini Force (Chinese name 迷?特工?).’
Since Mini Force officially entered the Chinese market in 2019, it has released about 1,000 types of products and sold approximately 16 million units, continuing record-breaking sales growth in the Chinese kids market.
Along with the increase in sales in China, the royalties from the Mini Force IP also hit an all-time high. As various business areas such as animation, toys, new media, and musicals are being developed in the Chinese market, Mini Force’s royalty sales for the third quarter of this year recorded about 1.2 billion KRW, a 183% increase compared to the same period last year.
SAMG is minimizing risks arising in China, such as the ban on Korean content (Hallyu ban), and securing stable sales while expanding its business based on a business partnership with Wowotati, China’s largest media group. SAMG is the only content company in Korea that has maintained stable sales continuously since entering the Chinese market.
Next year, the theatrical animation ‘Mini Force: Attack of the Hamburger Monster’ will be released nationwide in China through Wowotati, which owns screens across the country. Along with this, the fifth series of Mini Force, ‘Mini Force V Rangers,’ is preparing for its launch in the Chinese market in 2023, and special effects content based on Mini Force Rangers will be broadcast through new media platforms and IPTV.
Kim Suhoon, CEO of SAMG, said, "Achieving 180 billion KRW in sales through a single domestic kids IP in the Chinese market is a very exceptional record," and added, "Despite the difficulties Korean companies faced in content business over the past few years, our IP competitiveness and local business strategy created synergy and achieved this valuable result even amid the local situation in China."
He emphasized, "After the lifting of the Hallyu ban, we will enhance the competitiveness of our IP library and achieve high sales by introducing new business models in various fields such as animation, toys, F&B, fashion, and space business."
The Mini Force series continues to maintain its position as a top-tier robot IP in China, surpassing 28.8 billion cumulative views on Chinese new media. Last year, it was selected among the ‘China TOP 10 Licenses’ announced by the US market research firm NPD Group, alongside strong global IPs such as Harry Potter and Frozen.
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