Hot IPO Fever... 15 Companies Lined Up Until October

[Asia Economy Reporter Koh Hyung-kwang] A total of 15 companies (based on KOSPI and KOSDAQ, excluding SPACs) have confirmed their public offering subscription schedules for general investors through October. With companies passing preliminary listing reviews and preparing to start public offering procedures lined up, there is growing interest in whether the enthusiasm for Kakao Games' subscription will continue.

According to the securities industry on the 6th, the major company following Kakao Games in the IPO market in the second half of this year is 'Big Hit Entertainment,' the agency of BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan). Big Hit Entertainment will conduct its general subscription on November 5-6.

Based on the expected public offering price range (105,000 KRW to 135,000 KRW), the maximum planned public offering amount is 962.6 billion KRW, which exceeds the 959.3 billion KRW public offering amount of SK Biopharm, the largest IPO this year. The estimated market capitalization of Big Hit, calculated based on the public offering price, reaches approximately 3.7 trillion to 4.8 trillion KRW.

This surpasses the combined corporate value of JYP Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and SM Entertainment.

On November 7-8, Aptamer Science, a new drug bio venture, will conduct its public offering subscription. This company is the only one in Korea to have successfully commercialized 'aptamer (single-stranded DNA target molecule)' products, and it confirmed its public offering price at the top end of the expected range, 25,000 KRW, after recording a demand forecast competition rate of 830 to 1 among institutional investors.

PIMS and BBCC will simultaneously conduct general subscriptions on November 9-10, while Baxel Bio will accept subscriptions from general investors on November 10-11. Additionally, on November 21-22, three companies?Senko, Quantamatrix, and Micobiomed?will conduct subscriptions simultaneously, resulting in overlapping subscription dates.

Besides these, many companies such as Vinatek, Wonbang Tech, Panacia, and Novmetapharma have confirmed their subscription schedules from this month through early next month.

Companies that have passed preliminary listing reviews and are preparing to start public offering procedures are also lining up. According to the Korea Exchange and SK Securities, there are currently 47 companies that have applied for preliminary listing reviews and are awaiting results.

Considering that the review approval process typically takes about two months (within 45 business days), companies currently under review are highly likely to enter the stock market by the end of the year. In this case, the number of new listings on KOSPI and KOSDAQ this year could exceed last year's 121 companies, marking the highest level in the past five years.

Market liquidity supporting subscription investments is also more abundant than ever. Investor deposits, which are funds waiting to be invested in the stock market, recently surpassed 60 trillion KRW, and the credit loan balances in both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets have also exceeded 16 trillion KRW.

There is also a high possibility that the refund funds from the Kakao Games subscription, which attracted a record-breaking 5.9 trillion KRW in subscription deposits, will remain in the securities market.

During the SK Biopharm listing in July, it was anticipated that the refund deposits from SK Biopharm would flow intensively into the stock market or re-enter through public offering subscriptions, thereby increasing subscription competition rates. According to SK Securities, on June 26, the refund date for SK Biopharm subscription deposits, Shin Do Gi-yeon and Withus Pharmaceutical, which conducted subscriptions, attracted deposits exceeding 1.9 trillion KRW and 2.7 trillion KRW respectively, showing a reflective effect.

Among the 5.9 trillion KRW subscription deposits attracted by Kakao Games, the amount refunded is expected to support market liquidity. According to Samsung Securities, only 12% of customers designated bank accounts to receive refunds after the Kakao Games subscription. This suggests that 88% of the refund funds remain in the securities market and will be used for various investments.

Na Seung-doo, a researcher at SK Securities, forecasted, "With increased interest in the issuance market rather than the stock distribution market, supported by abundant liquidity, the IPO market is expected to remain active until the end of this year."

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