이 기사는 2021년 04월 02일 08시04분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

SK IE Technology (SKIET), a subsidiary of SK's battery maker SK Innovation, has started its initial public offering (IPO) process, submitting its registration statement on Wednesday.

SKIET is expected to raise as much as 2.2 trillion won ($1.94 billion) through the listing, which would be the fourth largest in South Korea. The company will sell over 21 million shares or 30% of its total shares after the listing, of which new shares account for 12%. Shares owned by its parent SK Innvation account for 18% of the total. SK Innovation owns a 90% stake in SKIET as of March 31.

The company valued itself at 9.3 trillion won, equivalent to the peer group’s average multiple of 48.1 times its 2020 earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 196.6 billion. Its peer companies include L&F, Ecopro BM, Posco Chemical, and Iljin Materials.

If a discount rate of 19.6% to 40.3% is applied, SKIET will be valued at 5.56 trillion won to 7.48 trillion won. It has set its IPO price range between 78,000 won and 105,000 won per share, which will make the company raise 1.66 trillion won to 2.24 trillion through the listing.

If the offering price is set at the upper end of the price band, the deal will be the fourth largest IPO to date with 2.24 trillion won, after Samsung Life Insurance with 4.88 trillion won and Netmarble with 2.67 trillion won.

SKIET will carry out its two-day book building process on April 22 and 23 and the subscription for individual investors will run on April 28 and 29. The company is expected to make its debut in mid-May. The deal is led by Mirae Asset Securities and JP Morgan, with Korea Investment & Securities and Credit Suisse acting as joint bookrunners.

SKIET plans to use proceeds to expand its mainstay lithium-ion battery separators business. The product is a core material for electric vehicle battery production.

The company's operating profit increased to 125.2 billion won in 2020 on a consolidated basis, up 55.4% from a year earlier. Revenue soared by 78.4% to 469.3 billion won, with net profit up 38.4% to 88.2 billion won. (Reporting by Kyung-ju Lee)