LG CNS priced Korea's biggest IPO at the top of the range — it closed 10% under

LG CNS, the IT services arm of the LG group, listed on the KOSPI on 5 February 2025 in South Korea's biggest IPO in years: 19,377,190 shares at ₩61,900 each, a ₩1.2 trillion offering. The demand forecast looked like a coronation — 2,059 institutions joined the bookbuilding, the competition ran 114-to-1, and roughly 99% of participating bids priced at or above the top of the range.

The company took the ceiling. On listing day the market gave back the discount: LG CNS closed at ₩55,800, down 9.85% from the offer price, below it for most of the session. Press coverage put the cause on valuation — at a market capitalisation near ₩6 trillion the shares were priced richly against listed peers such as Samsung SDS.

The listing became a marker for the Korean IPO market's mood in 2025: strong books and aggressive pricing no longer guaranteed a first-day gain, and several offerings that year had to rethink how much of the range they dared take.