Korean investors received no SpaceX shares because Mirae Asset Securities (006800.KS) mistook the lead underwriters' demand survey for a formal order, according to a foreign news report.
Bloomberg reported Sunday, citing sources, that Mirae Asset Securities failed to secure SpaceX shares because subscription demand of $1.1 billion (about 1.7 trillion won) from Korean investors was not registered as actual orders. According to the report, the lead underwriters for SpaceX's initial public offering (IPO) sent an email in mid-May to about 20 firms in the co-underwriting syndicate, asking them to indicate investor demand for the shares. Mirae Asset Securities, which was part of the syndicate, mistook its reply on client demand for the submission of a formal subscription order.
The lead underwriters, by contrast, regarded Mirae Asset Securities' submitted response as only an expression of demand interest, not a formal order. Actual orders were entered in June, after the lead underwriters sent a separate email in line with Wall Street IPO practice. The lead underwriters understood that Mirae Asset Securities had not placed a single order for the Korean investor allocation. The lead underwriters for the SpaceX IPO included Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
Mirae Asset Securities actively promoted to investors the possibility of participating in the SpaceX IPO this year, but ultimately failed to obtain a single share and is now under examination by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Investors had initially understood that Mirae Asset Securities would acquire 2.31 million SpaceX Class A common shares. SpaceX set its offering price at $135 and raised a record total of $85.7 billion (about 133 trillion won) through its IPO on June 10. It listed on the Nasdaq market two days later, on June 12.
