IPO Stretching Out with KOSDAQ Rebound

The initial public offering (IPO) market, which was sluggish in the fourth quarter of last year, is showing signs of recovery. Since the beginning of this year, the KOSDAQ market has rebounded, and the competition rate for public offering subscriptions is also picking up.

According to the financial investment industry on the 17th, Asterasys, which is scheduled to be listed on the KOSDAQ market on the 24th, attracted 3.8 trillion won in subscription deposits from general investors during its public offering subscription.

The beauty medical device company Asterasys is well-known among domestic consumers for its 'Ha Ji-won lifting.' As a result of conducting subscriptions for general investors over two days from the 14th to the 15th, it recorded a competition rate of 1791 to 1.

Meatbox Global, which completed its public offering subscription a day before Asterasys, exceeded 1 trillion won in subscription deposits. Meatbox Global facilitates direct transactions between primary wholesalers and retailers through its livestock direct transaction online platform 'Meatbox.'

PII, which will conduct public offering subscriptions for two days starting on the 20th, recorded a competition rate of 1118 to 1 in demand forecasting targeting institutional investors. The public offering price was set at 5,000 won, the upper limit of the desired range. PII is an artificial intelligence (AI) software company that supplies semiconductor and secondary battery inspection solutions using AI and video processing algorithm software technology.

Choi Jong-kyung, a researcher at Heungkuk Securities, explained, "Although it is early in the year, looking at the current trend of demand forecasting, 12 prospective listed companies are conducting demand forecasting," adding, "Considering that an average of seven companies conducted demand forecasting in January over the five years from 2020 to 2024, this is quite active."

This is not unrelated to the lively flow in the KOSDAQ market at the beginning of the year, which was sluggish last year. Unlike the Nasdaq Composite Index, which has been fluctuating and stagnating since the beginning of the year, the KOSDAQ index rose 6.8% until the previous day. Stocks related to robots, AI, and quantum computers surged in the early KOSDAQ market, continuing the trend of stock market movements.

원본보기 아이콘

Due to the sluggishness until last year, optimistic forecasts that this year could be relatively strong seem to have influenced investment sentiment in the IPO market. However, the investment banking (IB) industry expects LG CNS, which is planning to list on the KOSPI market next month, to be the most important indicator.

Jo Dae-hyung, a researcher at DS Investment & Securities, emphasized, "Typically, the market sentiment has reversed after the public offering of companies with a market capitalization in the trillion-won range," adding, "The public offering process of LG CNS, scheduled to be listed on the 5th of next month, is inevitably important." He added, "Based on the upper limit of the desired public offering price range, the public offering size is 1.2 trillion won," and "It is the largest public offering subscription size since LG Energy Solution was listed in January 2022."

If LG CNS confirms the public offering price through demand forecasting and shows a stable stock price trend after listing, it is highly likely that large-scale public offering companies will consecutively pursue listings. The expected number of IPO companies this year is 130 to 140. This is expected to be similar to the recent five-year average of 132. Park Jong-sun, a researcher at Eugene Investment & Securities, analyzed, "The expected IPO public offering amount this year is about 7 trillion to 9.5 trillion won," adding, "The public offering size in the KOSPI market will reach 4.5 trillion to 6.5 trillion won." He expressed expectations, saying, "Large-scale companies such as Lotte Global Logistics, DN Solutions, and Seoul Guarantee Insurance have already received IPO approval," and "They are expected to pursue listings in the first half of this year."

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.