Instead of NASDAQ

 

The Korea Exchange is making all-out efforts to attract Samsung BioLogics to the Korean stock market. But the company is considering being listed on the NASDAQ in the U.S.

Samsung BioLogics is a mega company expected to record market capitalization of at least 10 trillion won. Moreover, the company nicely matches the identity of the KOSDAQ, which pursues becoming a market centered on cutting-edge technology and bio engineering.

According to the financial investment industry, Lim Seong-won, an executive director at the KOSDAQ Market Headquarters at the Korea Exchange, met with Kim Tae-han, the president of Samsung BioLogics and Kim Dong-jung, the CFO of the same company. In the meeting, Lim actively recommended the two Kims to list their company on the KOSDAQ market.

It is said that Choi Kyung-soo, the chairperson of the Korea Exchange, is considering directly persuading the top management of Samsung BioLogics. Samsung BioLogics is planning to raise funds to expand its fourth factory by in the second half of next year and allegedly considering being listed on the NASDAQ via an IPO. Samsung BioEpis, an affiliate of Samsung BioLogics, is preparing to be listed on the NASDAQ by having already appointed Goldman Sachs as its lead manager.

The reason why the Korea Exchange is making a lot of efforts to attract Samsung BioLogics is that the company is a large-capital stock that can energize the stock market a great deal.

At the moment, Celltrion ranks first in the KOSDAQ market capitalization standings. In the event that a representative biotech company is listed on the KOSDAQ, many small and mid-sized bio companies are expected to follow suit. It is a just cause that the listing of the company will enable domestic investors to directly enjoy the fruit of the biotech industry, which is a new growth engine for the Samsung Group.  

It seems that Samsung BioLogics is favoring the NASDAQ market over the KOSDAQ market. This means that Samsung BioLogics thinks that the KOSDAQ market will hardly afford the company’s IPO, expected to reach nearly 2 trillion won. “An IPO volume of 2 trillion won is less than half of an IPO by Samsung Life Insurance that amounted to 4.8881 trillion won [US$4.1717 billion],” said a representative at the Korea Exchange. “We can afford the amount, since the KOSDAQ’s current market capitalization is standing at 189 trillion won [US$161 billion].”

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