Initial Offering
The Korea Exchange announced on Sept. 15 that the KOSDAQ’s total IPO amount for this year recently reached 821.5 billion won (US$696.0 million), and the amount is estimated to add up to 2.7 trillion won (US$2.3 billion) by the end of this year to break the all-time high of 2.5686 trillion won (US$2.1763 billion) recorded in 2000. “The number of listed companies increased a lot while the presence of major companies such as DoubleU Games, Caregen, and Pharma Research Products contributed to the procurement of funds,” it explained.
This year alone, 36 companies were listed on the KOSDAQ stock exchange, not counting special-purpose acquisition companies. The number is expected to increase to around 100 by the end of this year, making it the highest level since 2003, when the number reached 71. A total of 43 companies were listed on the same stock exchange last year.
113 firms, including special-purpose acquisition companies, have filed applications for pre-listing examination in the exchange this year. The number is likely to rise up to 145 within this year to exceed last year’s by a margin of 60 and that of 2003 by 43. The number is estimated at 23 for emerging tech firms, the highest since the introduction of Technology Evaluation, with the revised evaluation system put into effect.