Lotte Shopping Plans $2.5 Billion IPO
Wednesday January 11, 10:04 am ET
Lotte Shopping to Start Formal Road Shows for $2.5B IPO, Aims to List in Seoul and London
HONG KONG (AP) -- South Korean department store chain operator Lotte Shopping Co. is set to begin formal road shows for a $2.5 billion initial public offering next Monday, people familiar with the situation said Wednesday.
The retailer, which began pre-marketing the deal Monday, aims to list in mid-February in both Seoul and London, they told Dow Jones Newswires, in one of the country's biggest ever IPOs.
South Korea's biggest IPO is the $2.55 billion offering in 2001 by Shinhan Financial Group Co., the country's second-largest financial services firm by assets after Kookmin Bank. This is followed by the $2.49 billion IPO by telecom firm KT Corp. two years before that, according to data from Thomson Financial.
The Lotte Shopping deal follows a stellar year for Korean stocks. Korea's stock market was Asia's top performer last year, rising 54 percent on a strengthening domestic economy and massive domestic retail buying.
Lotte's shares will be priced on Jan. 27, a source familiar with the deal told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday. He said the company is expecting to sell up to 30 percent of its enlarged share capital, and all the shares are primary shares.
The offering will be sold in two tranches, with 80 percent going to international clients and 20 percent domestically. Goldman Sachs and Nomura are advising on the international tranche, and Korean bank Daewoo Securities is handling the domestic sale. The banks declined to comment.
Lotte Shopping is owned by Lotte Group, Korea's seventh-largest business group by assets, according to the Fair Trade Commission.
A Lotte Group spokesman Wednesday declined to confirm the details of the planned IPO. Lotte Shopping couldn't be immediately reached for comment.
The Lotte Group spokesman, who asked not to be named, told Dow Jones Newswires the proceeds from the IPO will be used to open more outlets of the Lotte Mart discount store chain in South Korea and to invest in the company's first overseas department store, currently under construction in Moscow.
There are 43 Lotte Mart outlets in South Korea. |
