The IPO Investment Fever Ignited by SK Bioscience, What’s the Next IPO?

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] SK Bioscience has succeeded in an unprecedented initial public offering (IPO) boom, reigniting enthusiasm for public offering stock investments. With several major IPOs scheduled this year, this enthusiasm is expected to continue.

According to the financial investment industry on the 19th, Life Semantics will go public on the 23rd, followed by Giant Step and Genoco on the 24th, continuing the excitement for public offering stock investments. All of these companies recorded high competition rates and succeeded in their offerings. Life Semantics, which conducted a public subscription for general investors from the 11th to 12th, recorded a competition rate of 1774.57 to 1, attracting approximately 2.7727 trillion KRW in subscription deposits. Giant Step, which held a general subscription from the 15th to 16th, recorded a competition rate of 2342 to 1, with subscription deposits reaching 4.5083 trillion KRW. During the demand forecast for institutional investors held on the 9th to 10th, Giant Step set a new record with a competition rate of 1691.65 to 1. Genoco, which conducted a general subscription at the same time as Giant Step, also recorded a competition rate of 2095.46 to 1, attracting about 4.6 trillion KRW in subscription deposits.

With the success of public offerings including SK Bioscience, the number of expected IPO companies in March, the amount of public offering funds, and market capitalization are all estimated to reach record highs. Park Jongseon, a researcher at Eugene Investment & Securities, said, "The number of expected IPO companies in March is around 10 to 12, the expected public offering amount is between 1.4 trillion and 1.8 trillion KRW, and the expected market capitalization is between 5.5 trillion and 7 trillion KRW. The expected number of public offering companies will mark the highest for the same month in 21 years, and the expected public offering amount and market capitalization will record the highest for the same month in 11 years."

Major IPOs are also expected to continue throughout the year, suggesting that the IPO market will remain vibrant. This year's major IPOs include SK Bioscience, the Kakao trio?KakaoBank, KakaoPay, and KakaoPage?SK IET, Krafton, and LG Energy Solution. Among them, SK IET (SK IE Technology) has taken the lead in the listing process by filing for preliminary review at the end of last year. As a subsidiary of SK Innovation producing secondary battery materials, SK IET's corporate value is estimated to be around 4 to 5 trillion KRW. The Kakao trio, Krafton, and LG Energy Solution are expected to heat up the IPO market in the second half of the year.

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