The heat is on to grab the next potential IPO blockbusters Yanolja, Krafton and Kakao Bank upon spectacular debut of vaccine maker SK Bioscience this week.

Accommodation booking platform Yanolja, mid-tier game publisher Krafton Inc., and Kakao Bank, the mobile-only bank affiliate of Korea’s dominant chat app operator Kakao, made the list of most searched unlisted stocks at ustockplus.com, a popular online securities trading platform for unlisted stocks in Korea, according to the trading platform operator Dunamu on Friday.

Their value has been soaring as well.

Shares of Yanolja that began trading at 300,000 won ($265) apiece at Dunamu’s unlisted stock exchange platform in November last year skyrocketed to 1.1 million won on Feb. 24, right before Yanolja’s 1:20 bonus issue. The shares have been trading at around 70,000 won apiece after the bonus issue.

Krafton share price currently hovers at 2.2 million won, up 32 percent compared to six months ago. The price of the game stock added 21.5 percent alone in a week from March 11 or right after the two-day public subscription for SK Bioscience’s IPO shares ended.

Shares of Kakao Bank, which has announced to go public in the second half, are trading at 74,000 won apiece on Friday.

The explosive demand for the three IPO candidates stems from SK Bioscience’s blockbuster public debut.

Shares of the vaccine maker are trading 4 percent higher at 175,500 won around noon on Friday, its second day on the Kospi. The stock had closed its debut day at 169,000 won, gaining by daily permissible 30 percent after opening the day at a doubled IPO price.

SK Bioscience share price more than quadrupled at the over-the-counter market over six months before IPO.

“Upon seeing the money in blockbuster IPOs, investors are going after next hot stocks on the OTC market,” said a Dunamu official.

Dunamu launched its exchange platform for unlisted stocks in November 2019. Its trading platform with more than 400,000 subscribed users was named as an innovative financial service by the Financial Services Commission in 2020.

By Pulse

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