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| The headquarters of Seoul Guarantee Insurance (SGI) in central Seoul / Courtesy of SGI |
SGI submits prospectus for IPO in November
By Anna J. Park
Seoul Guarantee Insurance (SGI) is scheduled to launch deal roadshows in Hong Kong and Singapore for foreign and Korean investors from Sept. 19 after submitting a prospectus earlier this week for its upcoming IPO.
According to the company on Wednesday, the roadshow will meet foreign investors in Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as local investors, throughout mid-October. The roadshow will include group meetings with chief investment officers (CIOs) from major global institutional investors and foreign analysts to showcase the company's public offering plan.
The Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC), the largest shareholder of SGI with a 93.85 percent stake, is also slated to join the roadshow to meet overseas investors. Lead underwriters of the IPO deal, including Mirae Asset Securities and Samsung Securities, will be participating in the investor relations event as well.
"SGI aims to convey key investment highlights of the firm to overseas investors, including its solid earnings, financial soundness and a high dividend payout ratio during the deal roadshow," an official from SGI told The Korea Times, Wednesday. "The company strives to achieve a successful public offering by continuously enhancing corporate value," he added.
SGI, Korea's only guarantee insurance company, plans to sell about 10 percent, or some 6.9 million outstanding shares held by the KDIC during the IPO. The KDIC's stake in SGI will be lowered to 83.9 percent, from the current 93.85 percent, with the successful IPO, and the state-run institution plans to sell further stakes after its six-month lock-up period.
The band of the anticipated offering price per share ranges from 39,500 won to 51,800 won ($29.7-$38.9), which makes the corporate valuation of SGI stand at around 2.7 trillion won to 3.6 trillion won.
The company will conduct a book building process at home and abroad from Oct. 13 to 19, while a subscription period by retail investors will take place for two days on Oct. 25 and 26. Given the timeline, the firm is expected to make its debut on the KOSPI, the main benchmark of the Korean stock market, in November.
Established in 1969, SGI has been offering contract bonds to support the economic activities of individuals, corporations and other types of bonds, such as a mobile phone installment payment bond, a mid-range interest rate loan bond and housing rental loan bonds. The company ranks in the worlds top four in terms of original insurance premium revenues, according to the International Credit Insurance and Surety Association (ICISA).
The company has posted solid performances, with a dividend payout ratio of over 50 percent. As of 2022 on a consolidated financial statement basis. SGI posted 5.04 trillion won in shareholders' equity capital, with 568.5 billion in net profit. SGI's rate on assets (ROA) is at 5.8 percent, topping the domestic non-life insurance industry for 20 consecutive years. As of the first half of this year, the company's solvency ratio was at 411.7 percent, which is also higher than global peers. The company is rated A+ and AA- by S&P and Fitch, respectively.
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