이 기사는 2022년 04월 22일 08:08 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korea’s grocery delivery platform Oasis is pushing ahead with its plan to list its shares on the secondary Kosdaq although it is qualified to be listed on the main bourse Kospi.

Oasis plans to apply for preliminary initial public offering (IPO) review for its Kosdaq listing as early as next month, according to industry sources.

The company has decided to float its shares on the Kosdaq market even though it has met all prerequisites for Kospi listing. The move contrasts with most of the country's other unicorn startups, such as online grocery delivery service operator Kurly and car-sharing platform Socar, which seek to list on the Kospi under loosened IPO guidelines for unicorn startups.

The Korea Exchange requires firms to go public on the Kospi to meet listing requirements including sales of 100 billion won ($80 million) for the latest fiscal year and average sales of 70 billion won for the recent three years, positive operating income, income from continuing operations before tax and net income for the latest fiscal year. They also have to meet requirements of either return on equity or income.

The Korea Exchange eased listing rules last year to attract more Korean unicorn companies, allowing local unicorns to list on the Kospi market as long as they meet the criteria of having a market capitalization of 1 trillion won. Loss-making unicorns Socar and Kurly are preparing to list their shares on the main bourse under these guidelines.

Unlike Socar and Kurly, Oasis is eligible to float on the Kospi under both original and loosened guidelines as it is continuously making profits and is a unicorn with a valuation of 1 trillion won or more.

Yet, the company aims to stick with the original plan to pursue its management policy that puts a top priority on trust despite advantages of the Kospi listing.

“We have built solid relationship with the Kosdaq market headquarters of the KRX since the beginning of our IPO process,” an Oasis official said.

Korea Investment & Securities and NH Investment & Securities are underwriters of both Oasis and Kurly. They are widely expected to have offered different IPO strategies for each firm.

Some market insiders said Oasis is strategically delaying its application for preliminary review not to overlap the IPO timeline with Kurly. Oasis was expected to submit its application this month, but those chances seem slim as convertible preferred shares and convertible bonds have yet to be converted into common shares.

“We are not intentionally adjusting the IPO schedule,” the Oasis official said, adding, “The application for the preliminary review is expected to be completed in the first half as the process is gaining steam lately.” (Reporting by Yoon-shin Choi)