TMC Confirms IPO Price at 28,000 Won... Scheduled to List on the 19th

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] TMC, a leading domestic company in semiconductor specialty gases (CEO Wonyang Yoo), announced that it has finalized the public offering price at 28,000 KRW ahead of the general investor subscription starting tomorrow. This price is a 12.5% discount from the desired offering band of 32,000 KRW.

Previously, during the institutional investor subscription held on January 4-5, a total of 560 institutions participated, recording a competition rate of 31.33:1. A representative from the lead underwriter Hanwha Investment & Securities stated, “Institutional investors who participated in the demand forecast positively evaluated TMC’s unique domestic technology and growth potential, but responses were divided due to the difficult market conditions, including the recent semiconductor industry downturn and the early-year stock market decline.” In fact, 19.7% of institutions submitted bids at the upper limit of the desired offering band of 38,000 KRW, and the proportion of institutional investors applying for mandatory lock-up agreements was 5.36%.

In this situation, TMC boldly decided on a shareholder-friendly offering price and resolved to complete the IPO. The explanation is that this was intended to lower the entry barrier for general investors and encourage participation. CEO Wonyang Yoo of TMC said, “Despite the difficult market conditions, we thank the institutional investors who showed interest in TMC,” and added, “We will continue to become a shareholder-friendly company by achieving stronger sales and profit margins.” As of the cumulative third quarter of 2022, TMC’s sales amounted to 234 billion KRW, and operating profit was 43.1 billion KRW.

TMC is a company that has developed specialty gases used in various semiconductor processes such as excimer lasers using neon (Ne) as the main material, as well as xenon and krypton, through its own technology. It has received recognition and maintains cooperative relationships with leading semiconductor companies both domestically and internationally, earning high praise for its quality and technological capabilities without any doubt.

After listing, TMC plans to accelerate sales through additional product development and domestic and overseas business activities, while also planning to expand production facilities in Boeun, Chungbuk, to ensure stable product supply accordingly. In line with the growing emphasis on ESG, the company is also pursuing a new business that collects and reproduces “waste gases” already used in semiconductor and display processes.

TMC is offering a total of 1.8 million shares through this IPO, reducing the originally planned 2.2 million shares to decrease the burden of freely tradable shares and actively seek market evaluation. Ahead of the demand forecast, on January 2, the company also disclosed an additional voluntary lock-up agreement for about 5.6% of venture financing. The general investor subscription will be conducted from January 10 to 11, with a planned KOSDAQ listing on January 19. The expected market capitalization based on the determined offering price is approximately 298.4 billion KRW.