ABC Mart Korea Inc., the Korean subsidiary fully owned by Japan-based footwear retailer ABC-MART, Inc., will seek to go public in Korea this year after two failed attempts.

According to the Korea Exchange on Tuesday, ABC Mart Korea filed a preliminary initial public offering (IPO) application on Monday. Given that it typically takes 45 days for document review, the company is expected to submit its securities registration statement sometime in November and to be listed at the end of December. The company is discussing details for the IPO procedure with its adviser NH Investment & Securities Co.

ABC-MART, founded in Tokyo in 1990, established ABC Mart Korea in 2002. The Korean subsidiary currently runs 185 shops in major cities across Korea. It posted 397.6 billion won ($359.4 million) and 42.7 billion won in sales and operating profit, respectively, in 2015, which was a big jump from 23.4 billion won in sales and 1.8 billion won in operating profit in 2004.

The company had attempted to go public in 2008 to expand its sales network in the country, but it dropped the plan due to uncertain market conditions caused by the global financial crisis. In 2011, the company filed a preliminary IPO application, but conflicts with its headquarters in Japan led to another failure.

Local securities companies forecast ABC Mart Korea’s market capitalization would reach 1 trillion won after its IPO, leading it to become the largest listed company among those with Japanese shareholders owning more than half of the company in Korea. Six companies with more than half of company shares owned by Japanese shareholders are currently listed in Korea -- Saeron Automotive, Kishin, Daidong on the main Kospi market and Moatech, SCD and Estec on the secondary Kosdaq market.

ABC Mart Korea is wholly owned by Japan’s ABC-MART. Its IPO subscription will be estimated at 200 billion to 300 billion won.

By Song Gwang-sup

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