The Pinkfong Company, the production studio behind the global sensation “Baby Shark," made its stock market debut on Korea's secondary bourse Kosdaq on Tuesday, closing about 9 percent above its offering price.
The newly listed stock closed at 41,550 won ($29), up 3,550 won or 9.34 percent from its offering price of 38,000 won, according to the bourse operator Korea Exchange.
Though the stock touched an intraday high of 61,500 won in early trading, marking a 61.84 percent surge from the offering price, it pared gains and slid to an intraday low of 39,200 won. It failed to stage a meaningful recovery in the following hours.
During the public subscription period, the company attracted more than 8 trillion won in deposits from retail investors, posting a bid-to-cover ratio of 846.9:1. Institutional demand was similarly strong, with a competitive bid ratio of 615.9:1 during the book-building process. Based on these results, the offering price was set at the top of the proposed range of 32,000 to 38,000 won.
Founded in 2010, The Pinkfong Company built its success on animated children's franchises such as “Baby Shark” and “Bebefinn.” The company has produced and distributed more than 7,000 pieces of content in 25 languages across 244 countries and territories.
With the roughly 76 billion won raised through its initial public offering, Pinkfong plans to invest in new intellectual property, enhance its production pipeline, create premium animations and expand its global location-based entertainment business.
Backed by worldwide popularity, the company has maintained steady earnings. Last year, it generated revenue of 77.57 billion won and an operating profit of 18.81 billion won. In the first half of this year, it posted 45.2 billion won in revenue and 9 billion won in operating profit.
“We are not a traditional animation studio, but a tech-driven content business,” CEO Kim Min-seok said at a press conference ahead of the IPO on Nov. 3. “Our content serves as both the product and the marketing tool, allowing us to generate revenue without relying solely on licensing or merchandise sales. We want to accelerate this innovation and expand its impact — that is why we are moving forward with the IPO.”
silverstar@heraldcorp.com
