KoMiCo said on the 17th that it will resolve the duplicate listings issue of its subsidiary MiCo Ceramics. The company took into account that shareholders' backlash is significant and that concerns about duplicate listings are putting considerable pressure on the company's stock price. Up until early this year, the company was preparing to list MiCo Ceramics, but as fears of duplicate listings grew, opinions are converging towards resolving this matter.
In relation to this, Choi Yong-ha, CEO of KoMiCo, has decided to concurrently serve as the CEO of MiCo Ceramics. KoMiCo stated that following the resignation of Yeom Moon-won on the 15th due to personal reasons, CEO Choi was appointed (concurrently) as the head of MiCo Ceramics. Through this, the company expects synergies from integrated management between the two companies.
MiCo Ceramics became a subsidiary of KoMiCo after being established through a physical split from MiCo five years ago. The company attempted to list on the KOSDAQ market in 2022, but withdrew from the listing due to the escalation of the LG Energy Solution incident. This year, the possibility of listing has been raised again.
This has acted as a significant negative factor for the stock price. KoMiCo's stock price fluctuated between 80,000 won and 90,000 won a year ago. Securities firms have set a target price for KoMiCo at 130,000 won, considering its growth potential. However, as the possibility of listing its valuable subsidiary MiCo Ceramics was raised, KoMiCo's stock price fell to the 30,000 won range earlier this year. It recently recovered to the 50,000 won to 60,000 won range.
With concerns about the listing of MiCo Ceramics easing, it is expected that KoMiCo's stock price will recover to last year's level. This is due to the company's steadily improving performance and the removal of worries about equity dilution due to duplicate listings.
KoMiCo's consolidated revenue increased from 288.4 billion won in 2022 to 507.1 billion won last year, and during the same period, operating profit also rose from 55.4 billion won to 112.5 billion won.
KoMiCo, which specializes in the regeneration of high-priced semiconductor process equipment parts and manufacturing ceramic materials for semiconductor equipment, supplies products to major semiconductor companies worldwide, including Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Intel, Micron, and TSMC.
Cha Yong-ho, a senior researcher at LS Securities, noted that "the main reason for the recent drop in KoMiCo's stock price is the concerns over equity dilution due to the potential listing of the consolidated subsidiary MiCo Ceramics" and stated, "I think the dilution of equity is limited." He also added, "KoMiCo has manufacturing facilities for coating and cleaning in the U.S., which will enhance its competitiveness."
Currently, the largest shareholder of MiCo Ceramics is KoMiCo, which holds 52% of the shares. In 2023, MiCo sold 47.84% of its stake in MiCo Ceramics to its subsidiary KoMiCo, and recently, KoMiCo acquired 70% of the 7.66% exchange bond that MiCo owned, thereby increasing its stake. Samsung Electronics also holds a 13.7% stake.
The remainder is held by financial investors (FI), among which Kayclavis holds an 18% stake through two funds.
The industry expects that KoMiCo will merge with MiCo Ceramics in the long term. However, the company stated, "There are many circumstances to consider before pursuing a merger," adding, "It will take considerable time until a merger occurs." In the meantime, the company is likely to focus on enhancing business competitiveness and increasing management efficiency to ensure that the stock price reflects the corporate value at an appropriate level.