In the KOSDAQ market listing offering of vision artificial intelligence (AI) specialist Stradvision, forfeited shares occurred. As unpaid shares by an institution, KB Securities, the lead underwriter, took on the forfeited shares.
According to the financial investment industry on the 29th, Stradvision submitted a securities issuance performance report on the 24th, disclosing that after institutional subscriptions in the listing offering, one case of nonpayment (63,408 shares) occurred.
Based on the finalized offering price of 12,000 won, the size of the forfeited shares totaled about 760.9 million won. Under the firm commitment agreement, KB Securities, the lead underwriter, acquired all of the forfeited shares.
A source in the securities industry said, "This is the first time this year that unpaid forfeited shares by an institution have occurred," adding, "Stradvision had allocated 5.25 million shares to institutions and 1.75 million shares to retail investors."
KB Securities is not expected to face a heavy burden from acquiring the forfeited shares. This is because the mandatory acquisition portion that arose due to institutions falling short of lockup commitments (70,000 shares, or 1% of the offered shares) can be replaced with the forfeited shares acquisition.
The Korea Exchange (KRX), in regulations on securities underwriting and related duties, requires that if the institutional investors' lockup commitment ratio falls below 40%, the lead underwriter must acquire a quantity equivalent to 1% of the offered shares.
However, if the lead underwriter acquires forfeited shares, the calculation must include that acquired quantity. KB Securities' mandatory acquisition portion decreased from the initial 70,000 shares to 6,592 shares, excluding the forfeited shares acquisition.
Meanwhile, Stradvision's total number of issued shares will be reduced from 53,318,546 to 53,255,138. Stradvision will list on the KOSDAQ market on the 30th.