Amid the strong performance of robot stocks in the new year due to the incorporation of Rainbow Robotics into Samsung Electronics, Shinhan Venture Investment, which invested in service robot software company Clobot, reportedly sold part of its equity before the stock price surged. After the stock, which had been falling since the listing, recovered slightly, the sale was made, and as the share price rose further in the new year, Shinhan Venture Investment's experience left a bitter taste. This is because they could have seen larger capital gains with just a few more days.
Clobot's stock price surpassed 10,000 won in the new year. The stock price, which was around 6,000 to 7,000 won in mid-December last year, surged more than 20% on December 24, the day before Christmas, breaking through 8,000 won. After the stock price, which had fallen to the 5,000 won range in early December, recovered, institutional investors who had invested early in Clobot sold some of their equity.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 3rd, Shinhan Venture Investment sold 449,289 shares of the 1,866,605 shares it held in Clobot at the end of December last year. Shinhan Venture Tomorrow Investment Partnership No. 1, listed as a related party of Shinhan Venture Investment, sold 301,117 shares, and Stonebridge Shinhan Unicorn Secondary Investment Partnership sold 148,172 shares, respectively. As a result, Shinhan Venture Investment's equity ratio decreased from 7.60% to 5.77%.
The disposal unit price was around 8,000 won. According to the disclosure, Shinhan Venture Tomorrow Investment Partnership No. 1 sold its shares twice on December 24 and 26 last year, cashing in 2.439777 billion won. The disposal unit prices were 8,084 won on the 24th and 8,129 won on the 26th. Stonebridge Shinhan Unicorn Secondary Investment Partnership also disposed of its stocks twice at disposal unit prices of 7,445 won on December 24 and 8,980 won on the 30th.
At that time, the stock price was far below Clobot's offering price (13,000 won) and the closing price on its first day of listing on October 28 (10,070 won). However, the stock price subsequently dropped further. On December 9 last year, it fell to 5,700 won. After the stock price, which had been continuously declining since the listing, recovered to 8,000 won at the end of the year, Shinhan Venture Investment disposed of a considerable amount.
However, Clobot's stock price began to soar after Shinhan Venture Investment disposed of its shares. In particular, when the news broke on December 31 last year that Samsung Electronics was incorporating Rainbow Robotics as a subsidiary, robot-related stocks rose across the board.
Clobot also rose by 25.59% compared to the previous trading day on the 2nd, recording a closing price of 11,190 won. This is the highest price since its listing. Clobot also recorded the highest trading volume (303.6 billion won) on the KOSDAQ market on the 2nd.
Shinhan Venture Investment sold about 450,000 shares, securing 3.6 billion won. Shinhan Venture Investment did not disclose the initial investment amount, but it is possible that they made a profit as a pre-IPO investor. However, by selling the equity a few days before the stock price rose further, Shinhan Venture Investment lost the opportunity for additional revenue. If Shinhan Venture Investment had sold the shares it disposed of at the highest price recorded after the listing on the 2nd, the total sale amount would be estimated at about 5 billion won.
Meanwhile, the number of remaining shares of Clobot held by Shinhan Venture Investment is 1,417,316, translating to an equity value of approximately 15.85976 billion won based on the closing price on the 2nd.
Clobot is a company founded by robot researchers from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology in 2017, providing indoor autonomous driving robot services in various fields including disinfection, security, transportation, and guidance.