이 기사는 2019년 12월 20일 08:00 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korea's KB Securities is about to jump into this year’s top three securities firms in the domestic equity capital market (ECM).

KB Securities wrapped up the year with Bridge Biotherapeutics' public subscription on December 13. After the forecasting demands from investors, Bridge Biotherapeutics' initial public offering (IPO) price has been set at 60 thousand won apiece, which makes the brokerage secure proceeds of 12.6 billion won.

The securities firm now ranks number four in arranging domestic ECM deals this year. The firm had retained the number three position, before it handed the position over to Shinhan Investment Corp. recently. Shinhan Investment Corp. has jumped to the third position after arranging Neuros’ issue of 40 billion won worth bonds with warrants on December 6.

KB Securities, however, still has room to catch up to Shinhan Investment Corp., thanks to the Bridge Biotherapeutics deal. The gap between KB Securities (441.3 billion won) and Shinhan Investment Corp. (441.7 billion won) is at a mere 400 million won. It is likely that KB Securities will finish this year with the number three position as the firm is expected to gain more than 10 billion won of proceeds by the year-end.

The domestic ECM is showing astonishingly tight race this year. While NH Investment & Securities and Korea Investment & Securities have secured the number one and two positions early, the competition for the number three position has been fierce. KB Securities, Mirae Asset Daewoo, and Daishin Securities were potential candidates.

Mirae Asset Daewoo, which has been most prospective candidate with KB Securities, has lost its chance to secure the position. Mirae Asset Daewoo was going to lead ME2ZEN's 80 billion won worth listing at the end of this year, but the company recently has decided to defer the listing to the first half of next year due to lukewarm demand.

KB Securities’ strong performance in the EDM this year is due primarily to the listing of ITM Semiconductor. Until the end of first half of this year, KB Securities' ECM division had struggled in arranging ECM deals as blockbuster deals had been delayed, including E-Land Retail's IPO.

However, as ITM Semiconductor's IPO hit the jackpot, the securities firm could jump into the leading group. ITM Semiconductor's IPO price was set at 26 thousand won per share, the top end of the price range. KB Securities has secured 131.3 billion won of proceeds from this deal.

Aiming at small, mid-sized paid-in capital increases, including AeroSpace Technology of Korea (93.2 billion won) and Cosmo Advanced Materiaials & Technology (63.2 billion won) also helped.

(By reporter Yang Jung-woo)