HK inno.N’s IPO price set at top end with record demand for Kosdaq listing

HK inno.N Corp. (inno.N), a pharmaceuticals unit of South Korea's Kolmar Korea, set the initial public offering price at the top end of the proposed band as it enjoyed a record-high demand from institutional investors for a Kosdaq-listing during a bookbuilding process.

Inno.N priced its offering at 59,000 won ($51.1) per share, the top end of its indicative price range of 50,000 won and 59,000 won apiece, according to the company on July 28.

The bookbuilding was 1,871 times oversubscribed, the highest for a listing on the country’s junior Kosdaq, attracting 615 trillion won ($532.9 billion) from 1,627 institutional investors at home and abroad during its bookbuilding on July 23 and 26, according to the company. The bookbuilding reported the second highest ratio in the country after SK IE Technology Co. (SKIET), whose shares were 1,882 times oversubscribed during the process.

Most of the institutional investors made aggressive bets, placing bids at the top end of the proposed price band or higher. However, only 13.5% among the investors pledged to hold the shares in the next one to six months after the listing.

Inno.N was set to raise 596.9 billion won through the IPO, while its market capitalization is expected to be at 1.7 trillion won, becoming one of the top 20 companies on the Kosdaq.

Its success in the bookbuilding is expected to draw massive money from retail investors during a public subscription to sell 2.5 million shares on July 29-30.

Inno.N, which is best known for its popular anti-hangover drink CONDITION, has been expanding its business to hospital cosmetics, skin disease treatments, and functional hair products since Kolmar Korea bought the company in 2018. Last year, inno.N posted record-high earnings with 87 billion won in operating profit and 598.4 billion won in revenue.

Write to Jin-seong Kim at jskim@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.