First Day Subscription Deposit 16 Trillion Won... Kakao Games Heading Towards 'Record-Breaking'

SK Biopharm's Potential to Surpass 31 Trillion KRW Record
Competition Rate at 427 to 1... Already Surpassing SK Biopharm

On the 1st, investors are applying for Kakao Games IPO subscription at the Korea Investment & Securities Yeouido branch in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. (Provided by Korea Investment & Securities)

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] On the first day of the public offering subscription for general investors of Kakao Games, the biggest IPO of the second half of the year, more than 16 trillion won in subscription deposits poured in. The average competition rate has already exceeded 400 to 1, drawing attention to whether it will set an all-time record.

According to securities firms related to Kakao Games' listing, including Korea Investment & Securities, Samsung Securities, and KB Securities, on the first day of listing, the subscription deposit (50% of the actual subscription amount) was recorded at 16.414 trillion won. Korea Investment & Securities, which was allocated the largest volume, attracted 7.7283 trillion won alone. This was followed by Samsung Securities with 7.5455 trillion won and KB Securities with 1.1403 trillion won. If this trend continues until the subscription deadline on the 2nd, it is expected to surpass SK Biopharm's 31 trillion won, the largest subscription deposit record in IPO history.

The competition rate has already surpassed SK Biopharm. Based on the combined figures of the three firms, it reached 427.45 to 1, breaking SK Biopharm's final competition rate of 323 to 1. Among the securities firms, KB Securities, which was allocated the smallest volume of 160,000 shares, had the fiercest competition rate at 593.91 to 1. Although the subscription limit per person is the lowest at 8,000 shares, the limit is the same for both online and offline customers, which seems to have attracted many investors. Korea Investment & Securities and Samsung Securities reduce the subscription limit by half for customers who open accounts online non-face-to-face. Additionally, the preferential customer criteria that allow increasing the subscription limit compared to other securities firms are relatively low, which is expected to have attracted small investors.

Korea Investment & Securities, allocated 1.76 million shares, recorded a competition rate of 365.92 to 1, and Samsung Securities, allocated 1.28 million shares, recorded 491.24 to 1. Even by individual securities firm competition rates, they have already surpassed the competition rate during SK Biopharm. Among these, Samsung Securities temporarily suspended online subscriptions around 9:30 AM due to a sudden surge of investors.

Meanwhile, if this competition rate is maintained, with a subscription deposit of 100 million won, one can subscribe for 8,300 shares (at the public offering price of 24,000 won per share) and be allocated 19 shares per share applied for. If the competition rate exceeds 1,000 to 1, even applying with the same 100 million won would result in receiving only 8 shares.

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