Ecopro Materials Co., which supplies materials for electric vehicle batteries, cut the size of its initial public offering and sold shares at the bottom of a marketed range due to weak demand.
The sale of about 11.6 million shares at 36,200 won ($27.7) apiece will help the company raise 419.2 billion won ($319.2 million), according to a statement Tuesday. The fundraising is smaller than initially expected as the offering was reduced from an initial plan of 14.5 million shares amid price swings in EV-related stocks.
“Sentiment hasn’t been the best for the firm especially due to the poor outlook in the EV sector,” said Ethan Aw, an analyst at Aequitas Research, who publishes on Smartkarma. The demand wasn’t “that great” as investors deemed the price to be high despite it being at the bottom end of the range.
While the local IPO market was expecting larger deals in the third quarter after a year marked by small-ticket offerings, poor earnings for EV-battery stocks and a bleak sales outlook have battered investor sentiment. EV battery names such as LG Energy Solution Ltd. and Posco Holdings Inc. led Korean stocks lower Tuesday as a benchmark index slumped about 2%.
Nearly 20% of the institutional investors who participated in the bookbuilding for Ecopro Materials IPO placed offers at a price below the marketed range, the statement showed.
The share sale is the largest in South Korea since Doosan Robotics Inc.’s 421 billion won listing last month. Only six companies in the nation have executed IPOs larger than $100 million since January 2022, versus 18 in 2021. IPO proceeds in Seoul are down about 80% year-to-date, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Ecopro Materials had initially planned to sell the shares at 36,200 won to 46,000 won each. It cut the top of the price range to 44,000 won barely three week after announcing the sale on Sept. 25, as a selloff in local stocks by foreigners gathered steam and impacted the sector.
Seoul-listed battery material producer Ecopro Co. owns nearly 54% of Ecopro Materials, which manufactures cathode material precursors, a key ingredient in lithium secondary batteries.
Mirae Asset Securities Co. is the lead arranger for the IPO. Subscription by retail investors is set for Nov. 8 to Nov. 9, with listing in Seoul expected on Nov. 17.
--With assistance from Youkyung Lee and Kurt Schussler.
(Updates with stock prices in fourth paragraph)
