Mirae Asset Gets No SpaceX IPO Shares for Korean Investors, Refunds All Deposits

Mirae Asset Securities joined the underwriting syndicate for SpaceX's initial public offering but did not secure a single share to allocate to Korean investors.

In a notice on June 13, the firm said it received no saleable shares in the lead underwriter's final allocation process, leaving no stock to distribute to clients. It refunded in full the subscription deposits paid by Korean professional investors early that day.

Mirae Asset had been taking orders from Korean professional investors after joining the SpaceX IPO underwriting syndicate alongside more than 20 global investment banks.

A SpaceX registration statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission a day earlier listed 2,314,815 shares as a Korea tranche. At the IPO price of $135 a share, the stake was worth about $312.5 million. The market had expected the shares to be offered in Korea through Mirae Asset. The firm, however, was left out when the lead underwriter made its final allocation.

Mirae Asset said its underwriting amount refers to its underwriting ratio as a syndicate member and is separate from the final allocation of shares available for sale to investors. The number of shares each underwriter can actually sell is determined at the lead underwriter's final discretion.

The firm also said it had warned investors in advance that no shares might be allocated.

It said in the prospectus and key disclosure documents that there was a possibility of receiving no allocation and apologized for the inconvenience to clients who had waited for the subscription results.

Shin Yong-hyun, Hankyung.com reporter yonghyun@hankyung.com