[Special Stock] Ajou IB Investment Rises 15% on Increased Valuation of SpaceX Stake

SpaceX Discusses Additional Stake Sale
Company Valuation at 500 Trillion Won... 37% Increase in One Month
Executed SpaceX Investment Last Year Through US Corporation

AJU IB Investment is recording double-digit gains during the trading session. Observations have emerged that the valuation of SpaceX, which is considering a stake sale, has risen by 37% from previous estimates to nearly 500 trillion KRW, seemingly impacting AJU IB Investment, which holds shares in SpaceX.

As of 9:27 AM on the 3rd, AJU IB Investment is trading at 3,125 KRW, up 15.19% (295 KRW) from the previous trading day. The stock price of AJU IB Investment has been attempting to break above the 3,000 KRW mark for three consecutive trading days. The last time it closed above 3,000 KRW was on the 18th of last month (3,035 KRW).

Before the market opened that day, major foreign media reported that "SpaceX has begun discussions on selling internal shares, which could raise the valuation of CEO Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company to about 350 billion USD (approximately 500 trillion KRW)." This represents a significant premium over the previously reported valuation of 255 billion USD last month. The stock sale is currently under discussion, and the details of the potential transaction may change depending on the interests of internal sellers and buyers, according to anonymous sources.

Secondary market sales, where employees and early shareholders can sell shares, provide liquidity to investors in the privately held SpaceX. This move is taking place amid deepening close ties between SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and the elected President Donald Trump. The currently estimated valuation of 500 trillion KRW is on par with some of the largest publicly traded companies in the world by market capitalization. It is higher than Samsung Electronics, the largest domestic listed company by market cap.

AJU IB Investment reportedly established a special purpose company (SPC) for investing in SpaceX through its U.S. subsidiary SolarStar Ventures last year and executed the investment. The exact shareholding and investment amount remain undisclosed. SolarStar Ventures has experience investing in 41 companies, mainly in bio and information and communication technology (ICT), and has successfully listed 19 of them on NASDAQ. It aims to complete the incorporation of its Silicon Valley branch within this year, and once incorporated, it will have two subsidiaries in the U.S., including the Boston office.

Meanwhile, AJU IB Investment has been selected as a domestic venture capital (VC) fund manager for 2024 by the National Pension Service (NPS), alongside IMM Investment, DSC Investment, and LB Investment. The funds managed by the selected managers will operate based on a 4-year investment period and an 8-year fund maturity. The Fund Management Headquarters plans to allocate a total of up to 200 billion KRW among the four companies.