이 기사는 2022년 05월 10일 08:13 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korean security service provider SK shieldus is expected to resume its initial public offering (IPO) in the first half of next year after it withdrew its IPO plan amid lackluster investor sentiment.

The company said it has canceled its IPO plan after meeting lukewarm demand during its two-day bookbuilding through May 4. Bids are said to have fallen below its proposed price band of between 31,000 won and 38,800 won.

“Investor sentiment has turned sour due to global economic uncertainties,” the company said. “We have decided to withdraw the IPO plan and review it again in the future when the corporate value is properly assessed.”

Analysts said the company won’t likely be able to restart the IPO process this year as lackluster investor sentiment is expected to continue for a while.

SK shieldus has until next year to complete its listing based on a promise it made with its financial investor, Macquarie Korea Asset Management, to make its stock market debut by 2023.

The most important task is to show meaningful changes by next year. “The company failed to draw strong demand as it couldn’t convince investors about its higher market capitalization compared with S-1,” an industry source said. The key is to show its strengths by expanding its cyber security business, the source added.

SK shieldus has emphasized the growth potential of its cyber security and converged security businesses whereas the country’s top security service provider S-1 is heavily reliant on the physical security business. SK shieldus, however, generated 59.2% of its total revenue from its physical security business in 2021.

“The majority of institutional investors gave us positive feedback on our fundamentals, such as growth, profitability and stability, during the IPO process,” the company said. “We will strengthen our competitiveness of cyber security and converged security, which investors highly valued during the process.”

The company also needs to solve an issue related to shares sold by its existing shareholder. SK shieldus’ IPO was expected to pave the way for Macquarie’s exit from the company. Macquarie decided to sell about 40% of its 36.87% stake in SK shieldus, instead of the entirety, but its stake still accounted for 46.7% of the total offering.
An industry source said that Macquarie’s exit plan also needs to be changed. (Reporting by Yoon-shin Choi)