This Year's KOSPI IPO Market Cap Hits Record High of 87.2 Trillion Won... Successful Launches by SK바사, Cafe, and KakaoBank

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] This year, the KOSPI initial public offering (IPO) market achieved record-breaking performance, driven by the active listing of future growth companies in the battery, bio, internet, and game (BBIG) sectors.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 24th, the KOSPI public offering amount this year reached 17.0 trillion KRW, significantly surpassing the previous record of 8.8 trillion KRW in 2010 (including Samsung Life Insurance’s 4.9 trillion KRW). The market capitalization of newly listed companies’ public offerings was 87.2 trillion KRW, more than double the previous maximum of 36.6 trillion KRW in 2010.

This year, 20 companies were listed on the KOSPI amid a frenzy of public subscription for future growth sectors. The newly listed companies include SoluM, Prestige BioPharma, SK Bioscience, SK IET, NH SPAC No.19, SD Biosensor, MCNEX, KakaoBank, PI Advanced Materials, Krafton, Hancom Lifecare, Lotte Rental, Aju Steel, Iljin High Solus, Hyundai Heavy Industries, K Car, Kakao Pay, D&D REITs, SK REITs, and NH REITs.

By the end of the year, the number of newly listed KOSPI companies is expected to reach 23, marking the highest in the past decade (25 companies in 2011). In November and December, three companies?HDC I Controls (merger with HDC I Service), Shinhan Seobu T&D REITs, and Mirae Asset Global REITs?are scheduled to be listed.

So far, 20 companies have applied for preliminary listing review. It is expected that 25 companies will apply by the end of the year, marking the highest since 2015 (25 companies).

This year’s IPO public offering amount totaled 17.0 trillion KRW, led by large-cap quality companies such as SK IET (2.2 trillion KRW), Krafton (4.3 trillion KRW), and KakaoBank (2.6 trillion KRW). It is expected to reach 17.2 trillion KRW by year-end. Among the top 10 companies by public offering amount in history, five companies (Krafton, KakaoBank, SK IET, Kakao Pay, SK Bioscience) were newly listed this year.

The market capitalization of newly listed companies reached a record high of 87.2 trillion KRW as of November. It is expected to reach 87.6 trillion KRW by year-end. The ranking of market capitalization by public offering is as follows: Krafton 24.4 trillion KRW, Samsung Life Insurance 22 trillion KRW, KakaoBank 18.5 trillion KRW, Samsung SDS 14.7 trillion KRW, Netmarble 13.3 trillion KRW, Kakao Pay 11.7 trillion KRW, Lotte Shopping 11.4 trillion KRW, Samsung Biologics 9 trillion KRW, SK IET 7.5 trillion KRW, and Cheil Industries 7.2 trillion KRW.

Looking at the global IPO status, the domestic stock market ranked around 7th globally in terms of the number of new listings and public offering amounts. As of November, 109 companies (18 on KOSPI, 91 on KOSDAQ) were newly listed, ranking 7th among about 90 exchanges in the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). Excluding China (Shanghai and Shenzhen), Korea achieved more IPO listings than competing Asian exchanges such as Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

The amount raised through IPOs was 18 billion USD (KOSPI 17.0 trillion KRW, KOSDAQ 3.3 trillion KRW), ranking 7th globally. This follows NYSE (USA), NASDAQ (USA), Shanghai (China), Hong Kong, and Euronext (France), and Shenzhen (China). It surpassed global markets such as LSE (UK), DB (Germany), JPX (Japan), and ASX (Australia), standing shoulder to shoulder with advanced markets in terms of IPO fundraising.

Early next year, large-cap quality companies attracting market attention, such as LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Engineering, are expected to conduct public offerings. Both companies are currently undergoing preliminary listing reviews. The listing of future growth companies such as SSG, Kakao Entertainment, Kurly, and Socar is also anticipated, suggesting continued growth in the IPO market.

A Korea Exchange official stated, "We will strive to activate the listing of future growth companies, which are new growth engines for our economy," and emphasized, "We plan to perform a balanced market management role to ensure investor protection without disruption for the sound growth of the capital market."

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