Sizzling demand for Korean shares spilled over to the secondary technology-heavy Kosdaq market that saw near 60 entries with their initial public offering valuing $2.7 billion so far this year.

A total to 58 companies went public on the secondary bourse so far, and five more are in the pipeline for this year, according to the Korea Exchange on Sunday. The number of Kosdaq debuts had continued increasing with 21 cases in 2012, 37 in 2013, 60 in 2014 and 94 in 2015 before a sharp drop to 59 in 2016.

This year’s IPO value neared 2.94 trillion won ($2.67 billion), well passing 2.09 trillion won scale of last year. The biggest IPOs were bioengineering drug-related Celltrion Healthcare, a subsidiary of Celltrion and TissueGene, a U.S. pharmaceutical unit of Kolon Life Science, and Black Desert online game publisher Pearl Abyss. Their combined market capital amounts to 16.65 trillion won. Another heavyweight is Studio Dragon, a popular TV drama production company and a subsidiary of CJ E&M, which is scheduled to go public later this year. This company is expected to hit 1 trillion won after the IPO. Seven more companies including Studio Dragon will be listed within this year, according to the KRX.

Five more stocks are on cue for pre-listing preparations this week. PET bottle maker Samyang Packaging will be open to public subscription by Tuesday for its debut on the major bourse Kospi with a goal to raise 119.5 billion won in total. Daewon, a local constructor known for its apartment brand Cantavil, is readying itself to float on the Kosdaq market.

By Chung Seul-gi and Minu Kim

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