이 기사는 2021년 11월 01일 07:42 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

NH Investment & Securities and Korea Investment & Securities, which are jointly managing an initial public offering (IPO) of Oasis Market, will make a combined 10 billion won ($8.54 million) principal investment in the company.

Oasis Market, a South Korean online grocery delivery platform, is valued at 1.01 trillion won in the latest capital increase, becoming a unicorn company with a valuation of over 1 trillion won.

Gaea Soft, which owns an 82.9% stake in Oasis Market, said in its regulatory filing on Thursday that the two brokerage firms will participate in the company's 10 billion won capital increase. They will each invest 5 billion won in the company to acquire 2,751 new shares issued at 1,816,986 won per share.

Oasis Market reportedly has cash reserves of about 100 billion won after raising 50 billion won in a pre-IPO funding in July.

NH Investment & Securities and Korea Investment & Securities said to have proposed the investments first to express their will to strengthen partnerships and carry out the planned IPO with responsibility.

They also seem confident that the valuation of Oasis Market will increase in the future. It is a rare case for an IPO underwriter to make a principal investment in an issuer. It can be said that the company has passed the brokerage firms’ strict internal investment standards.

The amount the two brokerage firms will inject into Oasis Market is large given that an underwriter normally makes a principal investment of between 1 billion won and 3 billion won.

In the latest capital increase, Oasis Market is valued at 1.01 trillion won, surpassing the 1 trillion won level. This suggests that NH Investment & Securities and Korea Investment & Securities estimated that the value of Oasis Market will far exceed 1 trillion won when it goes public.

The commission fees they will get for the IPO is unlikely to be large as the deal will be jointly managed by the two firms.

Oasis Market is expected to generate revenue of 400 billion won this year. The company’s latest valuation shows it has a price to sale ratio of about 2.5 times, higher than two times for its rivals.

Oasis Market is the only company that generates profits among domestic next-day fresh food delivery companies. (Reporting by Seok-cheol Choi)