IPO Boom Momentum to Continue Next Year... LG Energy Solution, KakaoBank, and Others Awaiting

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Following the vibrant activity in this year's initial public offering (IPO) market, the enthusiasm is expected to continue into next year.

According to the financial investment industry on the 6th, the total public offering amount of 65 newly listed companies on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ (excluding SPACs) this year is approximately 5.064 trillion KRW so far. This is the largest scale in three years since the 8 trillion KRW public offering amount in 2017. As there are more companies aiming to list by the end of the year, the total public offering amount of newly listed companies this year is expected to increase further.

This year's IPO market was somewhat sluggish in the early part of the year due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), but investment sentiment revived along with the stock market recovery in the second half. There were 12 newly listed companies in the first half, fewer than the 19 companies in the first half of last year, but in the second half, 53 companies have been listed so far, more than double the 22 companies in the second half of last year.

In particular, in the second half, large-scale companies such as SK Biopharm, Kakao Games, and Big Hit consecutively went public, leading to a record-breaking frenzy in public subscription for shares.

There are forecasts that the IPO market will remain active next year as well.

SK Securities projected that the public offering size of large-scale companies scheduled to list next year will be about 15 trillion KRW, with an estimated market capitalization of about 78 trillion KRW.

Companies aiming for IPOs next year include LG Energy Solution, which spun off from LG Chem's battery business; game company Krafton; vaccine specialist SK Bioscience; Kakao affiliate internet-only bank KakaoBank; fintech company KakaoPay; and content platform KakaoPage.

The securities industry's estimated corporate values are LG Energy Solution at 40 to 50 trillion KRW, Krafton at 20 to 30 trillion KRW, KakaoBank at 6 to 40 trillion KRW, KakaoPay at 7 to 10 trillion KRW, KakaoPage at 2 to 4 trillion KRW, and SK Bioscience at 3 trillion KRW.

Meanwhile, starting next year, the portion of shares allocated to general public subscription will increase from the current 20% to around 25 to 30%. Additionally, to accommodate small-scale subscribers, more than half of the shares allocated to individual subscribers will be distributed equally.

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