The First Half IPO Market Shines Only for Small and Mid-Cap Stocks... Korea, Samsung, and Mirae Compete for Lead Underwriting Performance

No.1 Korea Investment & Securities, Managing IPOs of 7 Companies Worth 257.5 Billion KRW
KB and NH Securities Aim to Overtake Rankings with Large-Cap Listings in Second Half

The domestic initial public offering (IPO) market has performed better than expected this year. Due to the sluggish IPO market in the second half of last year, the outlook for the first half of this year was also bleak. However, as promising small and mid-cap stocks have consecutively entered the domestic stock market, public offering subscriptions have attracted a flood of funds from the market. The competition for IPO underwriter rankings has also been fierce. Korea Investment & Securities, Samsung Securities, and Mirae Asset Securities each surpassed 200 billion KRW in underwriting performance, forming the top tier. KB Securities, which ranked first last year, has yet to enter the rankings but is aiming for a major turnaround with large-scale IPO listings in the second half of this year.

According to the Korea Exchange, Korea Investment & Securities has underwritten a total of seven companies, including REITs, up to the 8th of this year. The underwriting performance is approximately 257.5 billion KRW, with a market share of 23.0% by amount. On the 8th, cosmetics company Manyeogongjang was listed on the KOSDAQ market, taking the top spot. Companies for which Korea Investment & Securities served as the lead underwriter this year?Obzen, JO, Nanoteam, Micro2Nano, and Manyeogongjang?have all traded above their offering prices since listing. Manyeogongjang closed its first trading day at 41,600 KRW, a 160% increase from its IPO price of 16,000 KRW. On the 9th, it surged another 12.74% to close at 46,900 KRW. This reflects the high popularity of new stocks selected by Korea Investment & Securities among public offering investors. More than 5 trillion KRW in subscription deposits poured in for Manyeogongjang’s general investor subscription, with a subscription competition rate reaching 1,265.33 to 1.

With the growing preference for small and mid-cap stocks in this year’s IPO market, Korea Investment & Securities has once again demonstrated its competitiveness in the investment banking (IB) sector. Korea Investment & Securities is one of the securities firms actively investing in pre-IPO stages of unlisted companies. Jeong Il-moon, President of Korea Investment & Securities, formed the 'Jinwoohoe (眞友會)', a CEO gathering of unlisted companies, during his tenure as Executive Director of the Equity Capital Market (ECM) division. The firm has consistently provided solutions necessary for corporate growth, ranging from pre-IPO and IPO fundraising to mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Leveraging a strong network, it discovers promising companies ahead of competitors. For some companies, it directly invests to support their growth, creating a win-win structure.

Choi Shin-ho, Head of IB1 Division at Korea Investment & Securities, explained, "Korea Investment & Securities helps companies that stand out in promising industries attracting investor interest to proceed with IPOs at the optimal time." He added, "As a result, companies underwritten by Korea Investment & Securities appear to receive significant attention and favorable evaluations in the capital market."

Following Korea Investment & Securities, Samsung Securities and Mirae Asset Securities recorded underwriting performances of 230.1 billion KRW and 204.5 billion KRW, respectively. Samsung Securities made its presence felt by serving as the lead underwriter for Gigavis, which was listed on the 24th of last month. Gigavis, a semiconductor equipment company, had the largest public offering size among newly listed companies, raising 95.4 billion KRW through its IPO. Nearly 10 trillion KRW in subscription deposits flooded the public offering.

Mirae Asset Securities had a significant portion of its underwriting performance in SPACs (Special Purpose Acquisition Companies). This year, Mirae Asset Dream SPAC No. 1 and Mirae Asset Vision SPAC Nos. 1 and 2 were listed. Mirae Asset Dream SPAC No. 1 had a public offering size of 70 billion KRW, the largest among SPACs listed on KOSDAQ since the SPAC system was introduced in Korea in 2010. It is the second largest even including SPACs listed on the KOSPI market. Major pension funds, insurance companies, and other large institutional investors took substantial allocations. The successful large-scale SPAC listings demonstrate Mirae Asset Securities’ strength.

The mid-tier competition is also intense. Hanwha Investment & Securities recorded underwriting performance of 108.4 billion KRW by underwriting Hanwha REITs and TEMC, among others. Kiwoom Securities (58.9 billion KRW), Shin Young Securities (49.5 billion KRW), Shinhan Investment Corp. (41.6 billion KRW), and Daishin Securities (39.1 billion KRW) form the mid-tier group.

A notable point in this year’s IPO market is that last year’s top-ranked KB Securities and traditional powerhouse NH Investment & Securities are absent from the rankings. This is due to the postponement or withdrawal of large-scale IPOs such as Kurly, Oasis, and K-Bank. KB Securities could rejoin the top competition once LG CNS, LS Materials, and Doosan Robotics go public. NH Investment & Securities is also expected to enter the rankings as it is handling underwriting for SK Ecoplant and Pado.

Mirae Asset Securities and Samsung Securities, as underwriters for Seoul Guarantee Insurance, plan to apply for preliminary review for listing on the KOSPI market this month. With an expected market capitalization of 2 to 3 trillion KRW, the ranking competition is expected to intensify further.

Park Jong-sun, a researcher at Eugene Investment & Securities, explained, "As of May this year, 73.9% of IPOs have set their offering prices above the upper limit of the expected price range." He added, "This maintains a high ratio, recovering from last year’s sluggishness. Interest is growing regarding the timing of IPOs for large and mid-sized companies that institutional investors consider worthy of investment."

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