이 기사는 2022년 04월 07일 08:09 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korea’s NS Shopping failed to draw enough bids for its corporate bond issuance in a bookbuilding process held on Tuesday, according to industry sources.

NS Shopping held its bookbuilding process to issue bonds worth 90 billion won ($74 million), but attracted bids worth only 20 billion won. The remaining 70 billion won worth of bonds will have to be purchased by lead managers and a syndicate team.

The company was widely expected to successfully sell its bonds as the bond market has started to show signs of recovery lately. NS Shopping has tried to minimize risks by hiring four lead managers – Samsung Securities, Korea Investment & Securities, Mirae Asset Securities and NH Investment & Securities.

Market insiders said NS Shopping’s planned split-off has had a negative impact on investor sentiment. NS Shopping became a wholly owned subsidiary of Harim Holdings last year. Currently, a process to separate NS Shopping into an investment company, tentatively named NS Holdings, and a homeshopping company NS Shopping and merge the former with Harim Holdings is underway.

“The split-off process is very complicated,” said an industry source, adding, “Investors seem to have been burdened by the planned restructuring.”

A rise in a yield of government bonds also put pressure on investors. On Tuesday, the yield of the 3-year government bonds rose 4.2 basis points (bps) to 2.879% from the previous session's close. This marked the highest in eight years. The yield of 10-year government bonds also increased 1.5 bps to 3.080%, the highest yield year-to-date.

NS Shopping reportedly attracted bids worth over 20 billion won in its bookbuilding process, but some investors later decided to cancel their orders amid tepid response.

NS Shopping will issue its bond on April 13. The company proposed yields ranging from minus 40 to plus 40 bps of the average market yield and the bond will be priced at the top end of the range. (Reporting by Sang-won Lee)