Amid IPO Freeze, Kurly Also 'Postpones'... Retail Industry's Listing Direction Key (Comprehensive)

Curly Decides to 'Postpone IPO' on Domestic Stock Market
Will Reattempt When Full Corporate Valuation Is Possible
Curly Focuses on Growth, Interest in Investment Sustainability
Oasis Market Becomes First IPO Candidate Under Current Conditions

Kurly, which had announced an initial public offering (IPO) earlier this year, has ultimately decided to postpone its listing on the domestic stock market. The company judged that it would be difficult to receive a proper valuation amid the IPO market downturn.

On the 4th, Kurly stated, "Considering the contraction of investment sentiment due to the worsening global economic situation, we have decided to postpone our listing on the Korea Exchange's KOSPI market," adding, "We plan to re-pursue the listing at the optimal time when the company's value can be fully evaluated." Kurly's valuation, which reached around 4 trillion won last year, has recently dropped to about half due to high interest rates and market contraction.

Kurly had to complete the listing process by February 22, six months after passing the preliminary review for listing by the exchange on August 22 last year. To proceed with the public offering procedures such as demand forecasting, price determination, and subscription, the securities registration statement needed to be submitted by the end of January at the latest. It is known that within Kurly, the second week of January was considered the deadline to decide whether to submit. With this decision, Kurly will now have to undergo the preliminary review for listing by the exchange again to re-pursue the listing.

Kurly, which has set 'growth' as its goal for this year as well, plans to add two logistics centers in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and Changwon, Gyeongnam Province, in the first half of this year. This is to fully launch nationwide metropolitan area dawn delivery in addition to the current logistics centers in Songpa-gu, Seoul, and Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, optimized for metropolitan area dawn delivery. Kurly explains that it has sufficient investment funds for related infrastructure construction. Utilizing 250 billion won from Anchor Equity Partners' pre-IPO investment, which was finalized at the end of the year before last and completed in February last year, Kurly plans to continue investing for growth.

However, concerns about the situation thereafter are emerging in the market. While Kurly has emphasized growth, its sales surged from 180 billion won in 2018 to 1.5614 trillion won last year, but its operating loss also increased from 33.7 billion won to 217.7 billion won during the same period. A financial investment industry official said, "While e-commerce companies like Coupang have shifted to a profitability-first approach, Kurly is still pursuing a growth-first policy, so continuous funding will be necessary until a virtuous cycle from investment occurs," adding, "This is why the industry is highly interested in Kurly's moves after the second half of the year."

With Kurly postponing its listing, Oasis Market has taken the lead among major distribution companies that declared IPOs last year in terms of schedule. Oasis Market passed the preliminary review for listing on the KOSDAQ market on the 29th of last month. Considering the six-month period from the approval of the preliminary review, Oasis Market must complete its listing within the first half of this year. Oasis Market said, "We will carefully observe market conditions," but also stated, "We are preparing to submit the securities registration statement with the underwriters to proceed with the listing as scheduled." Oasis Market plans to leverage its strength as the only profitable company in the dawn delivery industry to bolster its listing preparations. The market also values its business structure, which seeks synergy between its approximately 60 offline stores and online operations, as well as its continued profitability. Its valuation of around 1 trillion won is also considered reasonable.

SSG.com, which declared its listing, lifted the restriction on the timing of its IPO in the second half of last year. The company’s stance is to pursue listing when a proper valuation is possible in the market, indicating that there is no urgent need for fundraising through listing. CJ Olive Young also withdrew its IPO plan in August last year, shifting to a strategy of strengthening its valuation until the market thaws. An industry insider said, "Withdrawals of listings due to external factors such as deteriorating investment sentiment are occurring across sectors," and predicted, "Companies will seek to secure more meaningful market positions and profitability until market conditions improve."

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