Jeju Beer Company sold 3 years after Kosdaq IPO

Jeju Beer Company products / Courtesy of Jeju Beer

Jeju Beer Company has sold its controlling stake to a local automobile maintenance and repair business, ending the local craft brewer's fairy tale story.

According to DART — the electronic disclosure system operated by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) — earlier this week, the brewer announced that its largest shareholder, MBH Holdings, which holds 18 percent of total shares, and the firm's co-founder and CEO Moon Hyuk-ki, signed an agreement to sell 8.64 million shares and the management rights of the craft beer company to Double HM for about 10.2 billion won ($7.6 million).

The stock purchase agreement stipulates that the deal will be completed in early May with the payment by the automobile business company. Double HM will be acquiring Jeju Beer Company stocks at 1,175 won per share.

"The management rights of Jeju Beer Company are slated to be transferred at the extraordinary shareholders' meeting scheduled for May 8, where directors and auditors appointed by Double HM will be officially appointed," Jeju Beer stated in its public disclosure released on DART's website.

Jeju Beer Company was the first brewer in the domestic craft beer industry to go public on the Kosdaq in 2021. At the time of the public offering, Moon vowed to achieve the firm's first operating profit the same year by recording a sales growth rate of over 45 percent for the next three years. The firm also revealed its ambition to set up a subsidiary in Vietnam and secure a global distribution network, aiming for a full-fledged entry into overseas markets.

However, the craft beer company ended up being sold without ever posting an annual profit since its IPO, due mostly to a swift shift in beverage trends in the country among younger generations — from craft beer to whiskey. The entry of many similar craft beer products into the market also slashed Jeju Beer Company's revenues.

The stock price movement of the beer company reflected its failing performance over recent years. Compared to the initial stock price of 6,040 won recorded shortly after its listing on May 26, 2021, it plunged by about 80 percent during the past three years, now trading at around 1,200 won.

In contrast to the losses incurred by general shareholders who invested in the craft brewery, Moon is expected to pocket at least 6.7 billion won in cash, once this sale is finalized.

The failure of Jeju Beer Company will also cloud the prospects of other craft beer brands that had aimed to go public in the domestic stock markets.

Given that Jeju Beer Company was the first craft brewery to benefit from a special initial public offering (IPO) track, which allows companies that haven't achieved profitability to be listed under eased conditions for their future growth potential, it now seems that other beer companies are unlikely to receive such IPO privileges in the future.