À̹ÌÁö È®´ë Hyundai AutoEver Corp. and up-and-coming bio startup Genomictree Inc. are among the eight names in Korea¡¯s initial public offering-packed calendar for this month.
Hyundai AutoEver, an in-house IT unit of the Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Group, plans to make its debut on the main bourse at an expected valuation of more than 1 trillion won ($887.4 million). Its bookbuilding is scheduled for Mar. 13-14.
The company, whose revenue relies heavily on servicing Hyundai Motor subsidiaries, is said to be going public as part of efforts to comply with the stricter antitrust rules designed to curb inside business deals in large conglomerates. Chung Euisun, the executive vice chair of Hyundai Motor and the group¡¯s heir-apparent, owns 19.47 percent of the company. The public offering is expected to lower Chung¡¯s shares, which the company hopes would help reduce government scrutiny over internal trading deals.
Genomictree, a molecular diagnostic firm, is seeking to go public on the junior Kosdaq after a two-day bookbuilding session starting Mar. 11. The second-largest company by market cap on Korea New Exchange (Konex), an exclusive exchange for small- and medium-sized companies, specializes in developing molecular diagnostic tests for cancer. It recently gained local approval for its colon cancer kit and will start marketing it in May. Clinical tests for bladder and lung cancer diagnostic kits are also underway, with their regulatory clearance expected by the end of the year.
Two more companies are poised for a debut on the main Kospi this month. Korean hypermarket chain Homeplus Co. is seeking to raise 1.56 trillion won to 1.72 trillion won from listing its real estate investment trust (REIT). Dreamtech Co., a maker of smartphone electronic parts, plans to finally go public this month after having shelved its IPO plans last year due to lackluster demand.
This would amount to three Kospi listings in March alone, compared with nine for the entire 2018.
ezCaretech Co., a medical tech firm, and Amogreentech Co., a maker of integrated part materials, are among the firms readying to join the tech-heavy Kosdaq market.
The eight planned IPO filings are expected to raise a total of 2.2 trillion won, the largest monthly figure since May 2017 when it topped 3 trillion won.
By Moon Il-ho and Kim Hyo-jin
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