Hoban-affiliated VC Cornerstone Anticipates Hundreds of Billions in Gains from HPSP Listing

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[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] Cornerstone Investment Partners, a new technology business finance company affiliated with Hoban Construction, is expecting to gain several hundred billion won in capital gains through pre-IPO equity investment.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 23rd, Cornerstone currently holds 1,513,120 common shares (9%) of HPSP, which is scheduled to be listed on KOSDAQ.

Cornerstone Sangsaeng No.3 New Technology Association invested 1,101,600 shares, Cornerstone Sangsaeng No.2 New Technology Association invested 331,360 shares, and Cornerstone Win-Win New Technology Association invested 81,600 shares. The lock-up period after listing is one month.

The total number of public offering shares of HPSP is 3 million, and the desired public offering price per share is between 23,000 and 25,000 KRW. Based on the offering price, the market capitalization is estimated at 454 billion to 493 billion KRW. The demand forecast is scheduled for the 29th to 30th of this month.

Cornerstone’s equity acquisition price is known to be about 20,000 KRW per share. A source from the IB industry hinted, "Cornerstone’s acquisition price is slightly lower than the lower end of the desired public offering price."

Simply calculating based on the public offering price band, a profit of approximately 4.5 billion to 7.5 billion KRW is expected.

Despite the market downturn, interest in HPSP remains high. There is widespread expectation that the public offering price will be set above the upper limit of the desired price band. Some forecasts even predict that the market capitalization will double to around 1 trillion KRW in a short period.

The operating profit margin exceeding 50% is stimulating institutional investors’ sentiment. The fact that profits have more than doubled compared to last year is also attracting investor attention.

Last year, sales reached 91.75 billion KRW, and operating profit was 45.21 billion KRW, with an operating profit margin of 49.2%.

In the first quarter of this year alone, sales were 37.12 billion KRW, and operating profit was 21.12 billion KRW, resulting in an operating profit margin of 56.8%.

The major shareholder private equity fund decided not to sell shares for 2 years and 6 months without any old share sales, reducing concerns about overhang.

The largest shareholder is Presto No.6 PEF, holding 41.51% of shares. Additionally, Hanmi Semiconductor (12.4%), ranked as the global No.1 brand in semiconductor back-end processes, is the second-largest shareholder. Kwak Dong-shin, Vice Chairman and CEO of Hanmi Semiconductor, also separately holds 12.4% of shares.

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