South Korea's initial public offering market in July is expected to see its largest-ever amount of share issues for a single month, worth over 8 trillion won ($7 billion), driven by the popular online game PUBG label Krafton Inc. and the banking platform of the mobile giant Kakao Corp.
The estimated July IPO value is set to eclipse the 5.75 trillion won recorded for the entire year of 2020 in the country, according to data compiled by Market Insight. A combined market value of the July IPO companies is likely to surpass 60 trillion won, compared with the domestic stock market capitalization of about 2,700 trillion won.
In particular, Krafton, the developer of the multiplayer battle royale game, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), is seeking to raise about 4 trillion won. KakaoBank is looking to raise as much as 2.55 trillion won.
Krafton and KakaoBank are set to become the country's two mega IPOs this year, overshadowing SK IE Technology Co. (SKIET), the biggest IPO in the first half of this year that raised 2.25 trillion won.
Both IPO heavyweights will begin their almost simultaneous bookbuilding for multibillion-dollar IPOs later this month, in a hurry ahead of an expected interest rate increase later this year.
Further, the two online players seem to have no time to lose. To attract foreign investors, they need to complete the listings within 135 days of drafting financial statements, as advised by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. If they fail to go public within the period, they would need to refile their financial statements and redo the IPO process to draw non-resident investors, meaning a further delay in their IPOs.
High-profile IPOs slated for July and August
| Company Name | IPO Price Band (KRW) | Projected Market Cap (KRW)* | Bookbuilding Date | IPO Managers |
| SD Biosensor | 45,000-52,000** | 5.3 trillion | July 5-6 | NH Investment & Securities, Korea Investment & Securities, Samsung Securities, KB Securities |
| KakaoBank | 33,000-39,000 | 18.5 trillion | July 20-21 | KB, Korea Investment, Hana Financial Investment, Hyundai Motor Securities |
| HK inno.N | 50,000-59,000 | 1.7 trillion | July 22-23 | Korea Investment, Samsung Securities |
| Krafton | 400,000-498,000** | 24.4 trillion | July 14-27 | Mirae Asset Securities, NH, Samsung |
| Kakao Pay | 73,700-96,300 | 12.8 trillion | Early Aug. | Samsung, Daishin, JPMorgan |
Note: *Market cap projections are based on the top end of the indicative ranges. **Krafton and SD Biosensor revised down IPO price bands this week. Source: Market Insight |
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