Glenwood PE and SKC Kolon PI Aim for KOSPI Transfer Listing

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Jeong-su] Glenwood Private Equity (PE), a global private equity fund (PEF) management company, plans to pursue a transfer listing of SKC Kolon PI to the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) after acquiring the company. The strategy is to attract foreign and domestic institutional investors to increase the corporate value (market capitalization).

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 21st, Glenwood PE revealed plans to transfer to the KOSPI market during the process of recruiting investors for the 660 billion KRW acquisition fund for SKC Kolon PI. This is based on the perception that there are limitations in increasing corporate value by raising the proportion of institutional or foreign investors while listed on KOSDAQ.

As of this day, the proportion of foreign investors excluding Glenwood PE is only 7.9%. Even this figure increased by 1.5 percentage points over five months from 6.4% at the end of the third quarter last year. This means that the proportion of foreign investors has somewhat increased since the acquisition by Glenwood PE was decided. It is expected that the foreign investor ratio will increase further if the company transfers its listing to KOSPI.

SKC Kolon PI is evaluated to have already met a significant portion of the quantitative requirements for KOSPI listing. As of today, the market capitalization is 1.1467 trillion KRW, far exceeding the KOSPI listing requirement of '600 billion KRW or more.' Based on provisional results at the end of last year, the equity capital is 255.3 billion KRW, also meeting the equity capital requirement (200 billion KRW or more).

However, it does not meet the fast-track preliminary review requirements for listing, which include equity capital of 400 billion KRW, sales of 700 billion KRW, and operating profit of 30 billion KRW. The fast-track system shortens the listing review period from 45 days to 20 days for excellent companies that meet size or performance requirements. SKC Kolon PI recorded sales of 245.5 billion KRW and operating profit of 33.6 billion KRW last year.

The stock dispersion requirements, such as the proportion of shares owned by general shareholders (25% or more), are also substantially met. The number of listed shares is 16 million, which is 16 times the listing requirement of 1 million shares.

An IB industry official said, "If the company transfers its listing to KOSPI, funds from large overseas funds restricted from investing in KOSDAQ could flow in, and research coverage by domestic securities firms will also expand," adding, "This will increase the possibility of stock price rises through investor expansion and also put the company in a more advantageous position for fundraising."

Glenwood PE also plans to support SKC Kolon PI's entry into the Americas and European markets based on its network with global companies (SIs). Additionally, it will diversify sales channels, which are currently focused on mobile, into fields such as display, electric vehicles, aviation, industrial, and energy. The company will also establish an independent corporate identity (CI) and IT system separated from the SK Group.

An industry insider said, "Glenwood PE plans to increase corporate value within the next five years and sell its holdings to large domestic and foreign companies," adding, "The series of plans, including the transfer listing to KOSPI, are intended to increase the sale value."

Meanwhile, Glenwood PE signed a stock purchase agreement (SPA) in December last year to acquire 54.06% of the management rights shares of SKC Kolon PI held by SKC and Kolon Industries for 660 billion KRW.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.