South Korea’s largest multiplex cinema chain CJ CGV has cancelled its plan of listing its Vietnamese entity on the Korean bourse, marking the sixth entity to call off an initial public offering (IPO) plan in the recent two months amid deteriorating investment sentiment in Korea.

CJ CGV in a regulatory filing on Tuesday said it will not debut its subsidiary CJ CGV Vietnam Holdings on the Korea’s main Kospi market. The announcement came after it reportedly received lukewarm responses during the book-building session amid bearish sentiment in Korean bourses.

The company said its co-underwriters for the deal - Shinhan Investment Corp. and Hanwha Investment & Securities Co. - have agreed to its IPO withdrawal decision and requested the Korean Exchange to cancel its IPO application that it submitted in June.

CJ CGV shares lost 5.64 percent to close Wednesday at 38,450 won ($34.23).

CJ CGV Vietnam Holdings, a wholly-owned entity of its Korean parent, is the largest cinema operator in Vietnam with a 45.3 percent market share, as of the first quarter of this year. Its IPO price band was set at between 18,900 won and 23,100 won with an aim to raise up to 132 billion won.

Since September, six Korean companies including CJ CGV have called off their IPO plans although they had passed the Korea Exchange’s initial IPO review, citing poor market conditions. Kakao Games, the game developing unit of Korea’s leading mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp. had planned a debut on the secondary Kosdaq market this year but also retrieved its IPO plan.

By Cho Hee-young and Cho Jeehyun

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]