Wintec Ahead of August Listing, "Will Strengthen Dominant Position in MLCC and Secondary Battery Film Inspection"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Wintec, a materials, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang) certified company, is preparing for a KOSDAQ listing in August through a merger with Hana Financial 13th SPAC. Through this listing, Wintec aims to achieve stable growth in its core business of multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) inspection equipment, establish a dominant market position in the rapidly growing secondary battery film inspection sector, and further strengthen its growth momentum by introducing and applying artificial intelligence (AI) in this field.

On the 9th, Wintec held a press conference at the 63 Building in Yeouido, emphasizing that it is responding to the Fourth Industrial Revolution based on core technologies such as high-performance mechanical design and computer vision.

Wintec provides component inspection solutions in key industries driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including semiconductors, displays, printed circuit boards (PCB), automotive, batteries, medical, and military sectors. As front-end industries are expected to experience high growth, Wintec, which possesses various inspection equipment, is also anticipated to see an expansion in product demand.

Wintec monopolizes the domestic small and medium-sized customer market for multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC), with LG Electronics, Kyocera, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samhwa Capacitor, and OST accounting for 60% of its sales.

CEO Heo Min-seok of Wintec stated, "We perform various inspections, including visual inspections using cameras and electrical characteristic tests, to detect parts indistinguishable to the naked eye. Our ultra-high-speed visual inspection machine capable of inspecting 8,000 MLCCs per minute and the first domestically developed MLCC automatic composite characteristic tester are key contributors to improving MLCC productivity." Recently, the company has developed and commercialized inspection equipment that applies AI machine learning to film visual inspection equipment.

Wintec also holds a dominant market position in inspection fields for microchips, OLED displays, and secondary battery films. It supplies inspection equipment to various global MLCC manufacturers, including Samsung Electro-Mechanics, provides OLED bonding and bending alignment vision inspection solutions to LG Display, and supplies copper foil film inspection equipment to SK Nexilis, a global secondary battery film company.

Recently, Wintec signed a supply contract for PI film inspection equipment with SKC Kolon PI, the global market leader in PI film.

Wintec plans to sustain its growth by securing microchip X-ray inspection equipment and high-functionality film inspection equipment incorporating AI.

According to company officials, the demand for automated internal inspection by microchip manufacturers has significantly increased due to the high-performance requirements of IT products and new demand for microchips in automotive components. Currently, X-ray inspection is the only viable option for internal inspection and automation of microchips.

Another growth driver for Wintec is AI machine vision. The company plans to expand the application of its proprietary industrial AI machine vision solutions to its inspection equipment. It has already applied AI solutions to high-functionality film inspection equipment for secondary batteries and delivered them to customers. The global AI machine vision market is projected to reach $14.4 billion by 2022.

CEO Heo emphasized, "Based on image processing technology and advanced electrical measurement technology, we integrate AI analysis functions to develop and produce sophisticated intelligent inspection equipment related to OLED, MLCC, high-functionality films, and X-ray fields. We aim to be the best in the inspection equipment sector through diverse practical experience and advanced engineering technology."

Securing various high-level talents is also one of the goals of this listing.

CEO Heo explained, "As a small and medium-sized enterprise, it is challenging to recruit talent. Although the company has sufficient internal cash reserves, one of the reasons for going public is to secure high-level talent."

A representative from the lead underwriter, Hana Financial Investment, stated, "With the advancement of IT products and the electric vehicle industry, safety has become increasingly important. We expect Wintec, which has secured technological capabilities and a customer base, to continue growing. In 2019, the company recorded sales of 19.9 billion KRW and an operating profit of 2.5 billion KRW, marking increases of 18.5% and 11.8% year-on-year, respectively."

Based on this high growth potential, 75% of the total listed shares have been placed under lock-up, and notably, the largest shareholder, Eotechniques, and executives have set a lock-up period of two years and six months.

The shareholders' meeting to approve the merger between Wintec and Hana Financial 13th SPAC is scheduled for the 16th, with the listing date set for August 6. The company plans to use the funds raised through the merger for machine vision AI and equipment development, as well as the development of a new high-performance X-ray inspection unit.

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