Robot maker doubles on debut after biggest 2023 South Korea IPO

DOOSAN Robotics nearly doubled in its trading debut in Seoul after raising 421 billion won (S$427 million) in South Korea’s largest initial public offering (IPO) this year.

Shares of the robot maker closed their first day 98 per cent higher at 51,400 won, after surging as much as 160 per cent intraday. The company, with Seoul-listed Doosan as its biggest shareholder, last month sold 16.2 million shares at 26,000 won each, the top of a marketed price range.

The debut signals strong investor appetite for the sector in tech-savvy South Korea, which is the world’s top robot adopter, employing 10 manufacturing workers for every industrial robot. Shares in robotics makers were among the country’s most sought after this year as the government and local companies, including Samsung Electronics, stepped up investments. 

Shares in parent Doosan Co, which had jumped in the run-up to the unit’s much-awaited listing, dipped 19 per cent on Thursday (Oct 5), the most since March 2020. Its stake in Doosan Robotics fell to 68.2 per cent from 90.9 per cent before the IPO. Kosdaq-listed startup Rainbow Robotics and stocks of other robotics companies that had surged recently on domestic demand also dropped on Thursday.

Companies that raised at least US$100 million in new share sales in South Korea over the past five years jumped by an average 57 per cent in their first day of trade, data compiled by Bloomberg shows. Apart from Doosan Robotics, Fadu is the only other company to have raised more than that amount this year through an IPO in Seoul. 

“The local IPO market is definitely seeing a recovery,” said An Hyungjin, a fund manager at Billionfold Asset Management. “There were expectations that the stock would at least double as the robotics theme was getting a huge attention.”

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Founded in 2015, Doosan Robotics specialises in making robotic arms that work alongside humans on tasks beyond factory floors. The machines have been deployed in a wide range of services from making coffee and deep-fried chicken to serving beer and handling luggage at an airport.

Doosan Robotics plans to use the IPO proceeds for strategic acquisitions and overseas expansion, chief executive officer Ryu Junghoon said in an interview. It is considering buying a company with technology that could give robots mobility, he added. The company garnered sales of 45 billion won in 2022 from customers including Hyundai Motor and LG Electronics.