이 기사는 2022년 02월 14일 08:04 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korean grocery delivery startup Kurly is seeking ways to maintain Kurly CEO Sophie Kim’s management control ahead of its application for a preliminary review for its listing.

Kurly is in the final stages of readiness to sign a contract with shareholders, aiming to defend Kim's management rights ahead of the application, according to industry sources. The preparations include signing an agreement with major shareholders to jointly exercise voting rights and making changes in provisions of the contract.

The Korea Exchange (KRX), the country's top bourse operator, requested last year Kurly's major shareholders to exercise joint ownership of the company's shares to restrict them from selling stocks individually. The KRX wanted to make sure that Kim maintains management control given that her stake in the company decreased from 27.94% in 2018 to 6.67% in 2020 through a series of fundraising.

The KRX usually asks the largest shareholder and related parties to own more than 20% of a company’s shares to get approval for stock listing.

The remaining 93.33% of Kurly was held by domestic and foreign investors, according to the company’s audit report in 2020. Kurly’s shareholders included Sequoia Capital China with 13.84%, Hillhouse Capital with 12.03%, and DST Global with 10.69%.

Kim’s shareholding in the company is estimated to have lowered to less than 6% after Kurly raised about 480 billion won ($400 million) through two rounds of fundraising last year. Her holding is expected to be further reduced after the planned IPO.

If Kurly and its major shareholders agree to exercise joint ownership of the company's shares, they are limited from selling stocks following the listing. The company will have to convince investors of Kurly’s growth potential.

The process, however, isn’t likely to be easy considering that Kurly’s major investors are mostly foreign investors, except for SK Networks and Translink Investment, which own 3.68% and 2.96%, respectively.

The KRX eased listing rules to attract more Korean unicorn companies last year, allowing local unicorns with more than 1 trillion won in market capitalization to list themselves on the main Kospi market without having to meet further requirements. Kurly's stock listing is expected to be a major litmus test to gauge effectiveness of the eased rules in the future.

Kurly will submit its application for the preliminary review once the contract with its shareholders is completed. The company escaped from capital erosion at the end of last year by converting the entirety of its preferred stocks into common shares and hired new outside directors earlier this year.

Kurly’s corporate value is expected to soar thanks to rapid growth in revenue. The company’s revenue is estimated to have exceeded 2 trillion won last year, growing at an annual rate of over 100%. Market insiders estimate the company’s corporate value to be at around 6 trillion won after being valued at 4 trillion won in the pre-IPO round in November 2021. (Reporting by Seok-cheol Choi)