[Market Focus] Halla Cast Surges Over 20% on First Day of KOSDAQ Listing

Halla Cast, a company specializing in lightweight material components, is surging more than 20% in early trading on its first day listed on KOSDAQ.

As of 9:11 a.m. on August 20, Halla Cast shares are trading at 7,060 KRW, up 21.72% from the IPO price of 5,800 KRW. The stock opened at 7,840 KRW and at one point during the session climbed to 8,480 KRW.

Founded in 1996, Halla Cast manufactures precision parts for automobiles, robots, and home appliances using a variety of materials such as magnesium, aluminum, and zinc. The company counts major domestic conglomerates such as LG Electronics, Hyundai Mobis, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics as its primary clients, and supplies its products to global automakers including Hyundai Motor, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW.

In the institutional investor demand forecast conducted prior to the listing, a total of 2,401 institutions participated, recording a competition rate of 832.88 to 1. Of the participating institutional investors, 98.46% (a total of 2,364 bids) submitted prices at or above the upper end of the IPO price band (5,100~5,800 KRW). As a result, the final IPO price was set at 5,800 KRW, the top of the desired price band.

Prior to the listing, the company drew attention by increasing the proportion of shares allocated to institutional investors under lock-up agreements. Of the 5,625,000 shares allocated to institutional investors, Halla Cast assigned 1,873,543 shares to institutions with mandatory holding commitments. Among these, 1,684,609 shares are subject to a lock-up period of at least three months. As a result, out of the total 36,502,352 shares scheduled for listing, the number of shares under lock-up is 24,584,140, reducing the proportion of shares available for trading on the first day from 37.76% to 32.65%. Halla Cast expects that securing this additional lock-up volume will help minimize stock price volatility on the listing day.