SKIET IPO subscription draws record competition ratio

SK IE Technology CEO Roh Jae-sok speaks during the firm's pre-initial public offering press conference in Yeouido in Seoul, April. 22. Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

The highly-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) of SK IE Technology (SKIET) led to an historic book-building competition ratio of 1,883:1, the company said in a regulatory filing.

This is the highest in the nation's securities markets ― the benchmark KOSPI and secondary Kosdaq.

A total of 1,734 institutional investors ― including 512 foreign ones ― participated in the process for two days from Thursday.

Following the pre-IPO procedure, SKIET decided to sell 21.4 million ordinary shares at 105,000 won ($94.43) each. Earlier, SKIET, an affiliate of SK Innovation (SKI), suggested a range of 78,000 won to 105,000 won for its pre-IPO share price before being listed on the KOSPI, May 11.

This will help the SK affiliate raise 2.24 trillion won after debuting on the main bourse. Retail investors could apply for subscriptions of 5.34 million SKIET shares for two days from April 28 via five local securities firms ― such as Mirae Asset Securities and Korea Investment & Securities. SKIET's core strengths is manufacturing battery separators.

“We expect the high level of attention from institutional investors during the recent book-building to continue throughout next week when the public subscription of shares starts,” SKIET CEO Roh Jae-sok said. SKI will obtain a 61.2-percent stake in SKIET following the IPO. SKIET's market capitalization could reach as high as 7.5 trillion won after its market debut.

SKIET was split off from SKI in 2019. Aside from the cash-cow businesses, the company has selected flexible transparent covers used to manufacture flexible displays as one of its key future growth engines.