[THE INVESTOR] Casamia has dropped its plans for an initial public offering as it failed to drum up interest from investors.

The Korean furniture maker and decor studio filed for withdrawal of the IPO on Aug. 12 with the agreement of its lead underwriter Hanwha Investment & Securities.

The setback came as institutional investors showed low demand during a book building process. 



Casamia said it would postpone its market debut until the overall market condition improves in favor of its valuation.

Earlier this month, the firm’s CEO Lee Hyun-koo showed upbeat outlook for Casamia, announcing plans to bolster the number of outlets and revenue with the funds raised through the IPO.

By 2020, Casamia aims to shore up sales to 350 billion won from 120.4 billion won in 2015. It seeks a 270 percent surge of operating profit from 11.7 billion won to 44 billion won, he said.

Casamia’s bigger peer Hanssem saw its share price plunge by 22 percent this year due to low real estate transactions here.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)