Oasis Corp., operator of South Korea’s dawn delivery platform Oasis Market, has set the goal of becoming a top player in the domestic fresh food market through its Kosdaq debut in February.

“Dawn delivery market has a huge growth potential as its online penetration is less than 25 percent,” said Ahn Jun-hyung, chief executive officer of Oasis. “Our goal is to become a No.1 player in the fresh foods market by listing our shares on the stock market.”

Ahn’s remarks were made ahead of the company’s book building session on Feb. 7 and 8. Public subscription is scheduled for Feb. 14 and 15. Oasis is expected to become the first e-commerce player to be listed this year. NH Investment & Securities Co. and Korea Investment & Securities Co. are leading the initial public offering (IPO) of 523.6 million shares likely to be priced between 30,500 won ($24.7) and 39,500 won. The market capitalization can go as high as 1.3 trillion won.

Oasis started business as an offline retailer in 2011. It jumped into the dawn delivery market by launching an online shopping mall Oasis Market in 2018. The company, unlike other e-commerce players that log huge losses, has been generating profit from the start.

In 2021, Oasis reported an operating profit of 5.7 billion won on sales of 356.9 billion won. In the first 9 months of last year, it raised 7.7 billion won in operating profit on sales of 311.8 billion won.

Oasis’s operations run on a unique structure that combines offline stores and online market, which enables the company to operate efficiently by drawing customers without advertisements and reducing inventory. It also has its own distribution system, “Oasis Route,” that integrates information technology of its parent company Gaeasoft Corp.

Oasis plans to use the proceeds from the IPO to reinforce its services in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province and expand the dawn delivery service to across the country.

By Oh Dae-seok and Choi Jieun

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