Korea’s MeatBox to go public despite other failed grocery platform IPOs

MeatBox Global Inc., South Korea’s online livestock product sales platform operator, aims for an initial public offering valued at up to 28.5 billion won ($21.3 million) this year despite a series of failed stock market listings of major domestic fresh food delivery companies such as SSG.COM and Kurly Inc.

MeatBox plans to sell 1 million shares at 23,000 won to 28,500 won apiece to raise between 23 billion won and 28.5 billion won, according to its regulatory filing on Monday. The startup said its valuation was estimated between 130.8 billion won and 162 billion won.

The company founded in 2014 is scheduled to hold bookbuilding for institutional investors on Oct. 15-21 to set the listing price, followed by a retail subscription on Oct. 24-25. Mirae Asset Securities Co. will manage the IPO on the junior Kosdaq market.

The operator of the online sales platform for meat such as beef, pork and lamb links customers and wholesalers at lower prices by eliminating distribution intermediaries.

MeatBox has been in the black since 2022. It reported an operating profit of 1.4 billion won and sales of 52.4 billion won in the first half, more than half the profit of 2.6 billion won and revenue of 66.9 billion won in 2023.

HEALTHY CASH FLOWS ON B2B FOCUS

The startup secured stable cash flows by concentrating on the business-to-business (B2B) sector rather than the business-to-consumer (B2C) sector, which needs massive investments. The repurchase rate -- the percentage of customers that have purchased more than once in a given period -- on its platform stood at 82%.

MeatBox has been expanding its businesses into new sectors such as a livestock product data platform and another dedicated to large deals to diversify its profit sources based on know-how accumulated over the last decade.

The planned listing came after major local fresh food delivery platforms failed to go public.

Kurly, the country’s pioneer in the dawn delivery of fresh produce, has postponed its stock market debut on its plunging valuation due to losses and sluggish domestic equity markets despite gaining the preliminary nod from the Korea Exchange.

SSG.COM, the e-commerce brand of South Korea’s retail giant Shinsegae Inc., followed suit amid its mounting losses. Oasis Corp., a grocery delivery platform, withdrew its IPO bid in February 2023 amid tepid investor demand.

Write to Seok-Cheol Choi at dolsoi@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.