South Korea

HK Inno.N Corp, a South Korean pharmaceuticals company known for its popular hangover tonics, has priced its IPO at the top of the marketed range, netting W596.9bn ($520.9m).

South Korea’s financial regulator has stepped up scrutiny of big IPOs recently, disrupting a few listings and stoking concerns about a pullback in deal flow. Investors have so far been undeterred — but it’s time they start paying attention.

South Korean car rental company Lotte Rental has launched the roadshow for its IPO, looking for up to W850.9bn ($739.2m) in proceeds.

Kakao Bank has defended its valuation following a W2.55tr ($2.2bn) IPO after being questioned by South Korea’s regulators about its high pricing. The internet-only bank is only the latest in the country to be targeted by authorities cracking down on lofty valuations of new listings. Jonathan Breen reports.

The Vietnam consumer finance subsidiary of Korea’s Mirae Asset Financial Group has become the latest firm to join a flurry of Vietnamese financial institutions in the loan market.

South Korea’s Kakao Pay is revising the prospectus for its up to W1.63tr ($1.42bn) listing after the country’s securities regulator requested it to add more information to the documents, in the latest sign of an increasingly heavy-handed approach to the IPO market.

Korea Investment & Securities marketed a three year and a five year bond on Monday, raising a combined $600m.

Kakao Bank, an online-only South Korean bank, has begun bookbuilding for its up to W2.55tr ($2.2bn) IPO.

Korea Gas Corp, a government-owned borrower, found ample support for its dual tranche $800m bond, with demand of more than $5bn during bookbuilding allowing the firm to price the notes around some fair value estimates, and well inside others.

South Korea’s busy IPO market is continuing to pump out deals, with the latest listings coming from Kakao Pay and Covid-19 test maker SD Biosensor. But issuers still have to be realistic, as Krafton found out when it shot for, but missed, the country’s largest ever IPO.

South Korea's Mirae Asset Securities raised $300m from its green bond on Tuesday.

South Korean pharmaceutical company HK Inno.N Corp has kicked off pre-deal investor education for its IPO, according to a source familiar with the matter.