Hot IPO Demand Forecast Heat... Offering Price Exceeding Expected Range

Stock Prices of Newly Listed Companies Surpass IPO Prices, Increasing Interest in New IPOs
5 out of 6 Companies in This Month's Demand Forecast Set IPO Prices Above the Upper Limit of the Expected Range

The initial public offering (IPO) market has been heating up this month. Preliminary listed companies conducting demand forecasting for listing on the KOSDAQ market have all set their offering prices above the upper limit of their expected price ranges. This surge in interest in new public offerings is a result of newly listed companies entering the stock market last month with stock prices exceeding their offering prices.

According to the financial investment industry on the 19th, among the six companies that conducted demand forecasting for domestic stock market listings this month, five companies?Inswave Systems, Millie's Library, IMT, Hanssak, and Revu Corporation?finalized their offering prices above the upper limit of their expected price ranges. Doosan Robotics, which conducted demand forecasting from the 11th to the 15th, did not disclose its offering price.

Influencer platform company Revu Corporation finalized its offering price at 15,000 KRW, exceeding the upper limit of its expected price range. Revu Corporation conducted demand forecasting targeting institutional investors from the 11th to the 15th. Regulatory authorities implemented amendments to the "Best Practices for Lead Underwriting and Related Duties" starting in July to enhance IPO soundness. The demand forecasting period was extended from the previous 2 days to 5 days. Institutional investors participating in Revu Corporation's demand forecasting submitted prices exceeding the expected price range of 11,500 to 13,200 KRW. Many institutions also pledged to hold the allocated shares for more than three months.

A representative from Samsung Securities, which is in charge of underwriting the listing, explained, "Due to recent changes in the media market, there is great interest in the social media advertising industry. We believe that Revu Corporation's stable profit generation through its platform was a key factor in the successful demand forecasting."

Revu Corporation is a platform company that connects advertisers and influencers. It offers services such as the influencer matching platform 'Revu (REVU)', 'Revu Select (REVU Select)', which allows searching and proposing influencers, and the open platform 'Revu Partners (REVU Partners)'. Based on consolidated standards, it achieved sales of 25.1 billion KRW and operating profit of 1.9 billion KRW in the first half of this year.

Information security company Hanssak also finalized its offering price at 12,500 KRW, exceeding the upper limit of its expected range (11,000 KRW). Hanssak provides the secure data transmission solution 'SecureGate'. It has secured over 1,100 clients. The company is pursuing various new businesses, including AI-based secure mail services and home network security. A KB Securities representative, the lead underwriter, stated, "Hanssak is diversifying through cloud and AI-based new businesses. The continued increase in sales appears to have earned high evaluations from investors." Hanssak conducted demand forecasting over five trading days starting from the 8th. Despite the implementation of the underwriter's obligation to verify payment capability, it recorded a high competition rate of 840.74 to 1.

Semiconductor process equipment company IMT also set its offering price at 14,000 KRW, higher than the upper limit of its expected range (12,000 KRW). From the 6th, over five trading days, 1,821 institutions participated, recording a competition rate of 753 to 1. More than 99% of the institutions participating in demand forecasting offered prices above the upper limit of the expected range. IMT operates in dry cleaning equipment using lasers and carbon dioxide and in extreme ultraviolet mask laser baking equipment.

Millie's Library, which had postponed its IPO, also smoothly completed demand forecasting. It finalized its offering price at the upper limit of 23,000 KRW. A company representative said, "We understand that overseas investors met at the Hong Kong investment briefing highly valued the sustainable growth potential of the e-book subscription model. Also, about 75% of the shares scheduled for listing are subject to lock-up, resulting in a limited supply of tradable shares, which seems to have had a positive impact."

Digital transformation solution provider Inswave Systems also set its offering price at the upper limit of 24,000 KRW. 99.7% of institutions offered prices of 24,000 KRW or higher. With promising companies such as Purit, which supplies raw materials needed for semiconductor processes, preparing for listing one after another, interest in the IPO market is expected to continue for the time being. Researcher Yoon Cheol-hwan of Korea Investment & Securities introduced, "Purit, SLS Bio, and Shinseong ST plan to conduct demand forecasting in September and proceed with subscription early next month."