Big data analytics artificial intelligence (AI) corporations S2W said on the 10th that, as a result of the initial public offering (IPO) book-building for institutional investors conducted from the 2nd to the 8th, it finalized the offering price at 13,200 won, the top of the desired band (11,400–13,200 won).
In this book-building, 2,304 domestic and overseas institutional investors applied for a total of 1,319,499,000 shares, recording a competition rate of about 1,145.40 to 1. Based on the finalized offering price, the offering amount is expected to be about 20.9 billion won, and the market capitalization at listing is expected to be about 139.8 billion won. Based on total participation volume, 100% (including no-price bids) presented prices at or above the top of the band.
Despite the burden of being the first corporations to which the IPO system improvement plan applies, S2W succeeded in a strong book-building with high competition and lock-up commitment ratios. In particular, it also met the requirements of the priority allocation system for institutional investors' mandatory holding commitments, which was the core of this system improvement. S2W will list on the Kosdaq market on the 19th after public subscriptions for retail investors held over two days on the 10th–11th. The lead manager is DAISHIN SECURITIES.
This successful demand is interpreted as the result of high evaluations for the excellence of S2W's multi-domain cross-analysis technology; global competitiveness proven by a string of recent overseas orders, including exports to Saudi Arabia and a long-term renewal with the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL); and strong marketability demonstrated by establishing a stable, software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based recurring revenue structure with about a 96% customer retention rate. S2W plans to invest the funds raised through this listing in advancing AI technology research and development (R&D), establishing overseas subsidiaries, and building an internet data center (IDC).
Seo Sang-deok, S2W's chief executive, said, "We are grateful to the institutional investors who highly evaluated S2W's technological competitiveness and business growth potential," adding, "After listing, we will quickly expand the infrastructure and sales base that can support global business expansion and profitability enhancement, and on that basis, we plan to leap forward within a few years into a truly global big data analytics AI corporations."