Corporate bonds led by 'KB', IPOs by 'Mirae'... Securities firms' IB underwriting performance outline

KB Securities Maintains Top Position as Corporate Bond Issuance Lead Manager for 11 Consecutive Years
Mirae Asset Regains No.1 IPO Lead Manager with Doosan Robotics

With just over a month left until the end of the year, the annual (2023) performance rankings by division in securities firms' investment banking (IB) sectors have begun to take shape. In the bond issuance market (DCM), the traditional powerhouse KB Securities leads, while Mirae Asset Securities tops the corporate IPO sector. As corporate new funding activities remain subdued, significant changes in underwriting performance rankings are not expected until year-end.

According to the IB industry on the 27th, companies have issued a total of 60.873 trillion KRW worth of general corporate bonds (excluding financial company bonds and securitized bonds) this year. Among them, KB Securities led bond issuance underwriting with 11.667 trillion KRW, securing first place in the corporate bond underwriting sector. Although it was in a close race with NH Investment & Securities until the first half of the year, KB Securities pulled ahead after the third quarter and gained the upper hand. If this lead is not overturned in the remaining month, KB Securities will achieve first place in corporate bond underwriting performance for the 11th consecutive year.

NH Investment & Securities (10.674 trillion KRW underwritten) and Korea Investment & Securities (7.419 trillion KRW) maintained their positions as the 'big three' in corporate bond underwriting alongside KB Securities. Shinhan Investment Corp. (6.419 trillion KRW) significantly boosted its corporate bond underwriting performance to double that of last year, entering the top four. SK Securities (6.866 trillion KRW), despite having no affiliate relationship with SK Group, ranked within the top five by underwriting a large volume of SK Group’s corporate bonds, which are the most issued in Korea. SK Securities’ management rights were transferred from SK Group to the private equity fund J&W Partners in 2018.

Unlike the corporate bond market, the IPO market showed overall sluggishness this year. A total of 93 companies were listed on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets, with securities firms’ total IPO underwriting amounting to only 3.259 trillion KRW. This is just one-fifth of last year’s 15.942 trillion KRW. The main reason is that most large-scale IPOs, except for Doosan Robotics, were either canceled or postponed.

Amid this, Mirae Asset Securities (8.15 billion KRW underwritten) ranked first in IPO underwriting performance by leading the listings of Doosan Robotics and EcoPro Materials. Korea Investment & Securities (5.39 billion KRW) followed, underwriting the IPOs of Doosan Robotics and Pado (jointly underwritten). NH Investment & Securities (5.2 billion KRW) maintained a top position by underwriting Pado and Doosan Robotics (jointly underwritten), as well as EcoPro Materials (jointly underwritten).

In contrast, KB Securities (1.97 billion KRW underwritten), which topped IPO underwriting performance last year by leading the mega IPO of LG Energy Solution, fell to fifth place. Although it underwrote Doosan Robotics (jointly underwritten) and Samsung FN REITs (jointly underwritten), the underwriting amounts were not substantial. An IB industry insider said, "With no new listings from large corporate affiliates, the IPO market has been sluggish compared to previous years, and the Pado incident at year-end has also dampened the mood in the special listing market."

In terms of rights offering underwriting performance, the order was NH Investment & Securities (2.005 trillion KRW), Korea Investment & Securities (1.592 trillion KRW), KB Securities (1.011 trillion KRW), Daishin Securities (737 billion KRW), and Samsung Securities (692 billion KRW). Large corporations such as SK Innovation, OCI Holdings, Hanwha Ocean, Lotte Chemical, CJ Bioscience, CJ CGV, Cosmo Advanced Materials, and Cosmo Chemical led the rights offerings (new share issuance by listed companies). An industry insider analyzed, "Due to the deteriorating bond issuance market atmosphere caused by this year’s interest rate hikes, more companies have turned to raising funds through rights offerings."

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