South Korea's Doosan Robotics prices IPO at top of range
By Joyce Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea's Doosan Robotics is set to raise 421.2 billion won ($317 million) in an initial public offering (IPO) after pricing the deal at the top of its marketed range.
The company is a leading maker of so-called collaborative robots that work side-by-side with humans such as robot arms that can perform assembling, loading and welding tasks.
The offering for institutional investors had been marketed at 21,000 to 26,000 won and its pricing at the top end would give the company a market cap of 1.69 trillion won ($1.3 billion). Sales to retail investors at the same price will be completed later this week.
The company is due to make its market debut on Oct. 5.
Doosan Robotics' cornerstone investors include Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte, Norway's $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund Norges Bank Investment Management, Blackrock and Goldman Sachs, Yonhap News reported, citing the company.
Funds raised from the offering will be used to expand production facilities and its product portfolio.
Established in 2015, Doosan Robotics competes with Japan's Fanuc and Denmark's Universal Robots.
It reported revenue of 45 billion won and an operating loss of 13.2 billion won last year. Chief Executive William Ryu has said he expects the company to start breaking even in 2024.
Conglomerate Doosan Corp's stake in Doosan Robotics will shrink to around 68% from 91% with the offering.
Shares in the parent company have risen 11% in the last eight trading days in anticipation that its valuation will benefit from a successful listing for its robotics unit.
($1 = 1,327.1700 won)
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Edwina Gibbs)
