US-Listed Coupang Focuses Investment in Korea (Comprehensive Report 2)

41% Surge on First Day... Market Cap Hits 100 Trillion Won
2nd Largest Korean Company Surpassing SK Hynix
Kim Beom-seok "Will Spend 5 Trillion Won to Expand Korean Logistics and More"

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] E-commerce company Coupang soared 40.7% on its first day of listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), reborn as a company valued at around 100 trillion won. With this, Coupang instantly jumped to become the second-largest Korean company by market capitalization. Kim Beom-seok, Chairman of Coupang's Board, emphasized that the 5 trillion won raised during the listing process will be invested in the Korean distribution market to continue innovation.

On the 11th (local time), Coupang, which was first traded on the NYSE, closed at $49.25, up 40.7% from the public offering price of $35. During the session, it surged over 70%, reaching as high as $69.

Based on the closing price that day, Coupang's market capitalization reached $88.65 billion (approximately 100.263 trillion won). This is the second-highest among Korean companies, following Samsung Electronics' market cap of 549 trillion won. While Coupang was recognized as the third-largest Korean company by valuation based on the public offering price, it surpassed SK Hynix in its first trade, making a remarkable achievement.

Bloomberg reported that Coupang's listing was the largest since Uber in 2019. It was also recorded as the largest overseas company listing since Alibaba's in 2014.

Chairman Kim Beom-seok stated that the funds raised from this listing will be focused on investing in the Korean e-commerce market. In a meeting with New York correspondents after the market closed, Kim repeatedly emphasized that the 5 trillion won raised from the public offering will be used to expand logistics facilities and IT infrastructure within Korea. He said, "While we cannot avoid overseas expansion in the long term, we will focus on the Korean market for the time being. There is so much to do." He added, "We will increase the number of employees by an additional 50,000 on top of the current 50,000."

He also expressed, "Our listing has become an opportunity to showcase Korea's potential and the capabilities of Korean unicorn companies." In a previous interview with CNBC, he mentioned that creativity has created miracles and expressed his intention to continue investing in innovation.

Chairman Kim explained that the reason for listing in New York instead of Korea was to secure as much capital as possible. He said, "Alibaba from China also listed in New York. By raising funds in the world's largest capital market, we have secured competitiveness and can continue aggressive investments."

When asked about Coupang's timeline for turning profitable, Kim responded that aggressive investment is necessary. He described the accumulated deficit of 4 trillion won as an 'investment.' Regarding the issue of delivery workers' deaths during early morning deliveries, he said, "I feel deeply saddened. As the third-largest employer, we will strive to raise industry standards."

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