Cosdaq Listing Haichtech ② Put-Back Options Ticking Away...DB Securities "Will Actively Respond to Buyback Inflows"

DB Securities, which underwrote Haichtech's listing, faces a double burden. After absorbing unsubscribed shares from shortfalls in institutional subscription on its own account, the stock price has fallen more than 30% below the offering price, actualizing the burden of put-back options (buyback rights) being exercised by retail subscribers.

According to the securities issuance performance report submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 28th, institutional investors' subscription for Haichtech's offering reached 710,000 shares against an allocated volume of 750,000 shares. This unusual shortfall, where institutional demand fell short of the allocated volume, resulted in 40,000 unsubscribed shares (920 million won worth) being acquired by lead underwriter DB Securities on its own account. The competition ratio for retail subscription also remained at 25.7 to 1. Among the institutional investor allocated shares, 94.4% were shares without confirmed mandatory holding commitments.

The unsubscribed shares acquired at the offering price of 23,000 won are already in a range of approximately 300 million won in unrealized losses based on the closing price of 15,120 won on the 28th.

The greater burden comes from put-back options. Haichtech, as a technology exception listing company, granted put-back options to retail subscribers for 250,000 shares allocated to them, allowing them to sell back to DB Securities at 20,700 won per share—90% of the offering price—for six months from the listing date. With the current stock price trading approximately 27% below the exercise price, retail subscribers holding shares without selling face strong incentive to exercise put-back options.

Should all 250,000 shares allocated to retail subscribers be returned through buyback, DB Securities would need to purchase at a cost of 5.175 billion won. Considering the difference from the 28th closing price of 15,120 won, this could create a loss burden of approximately 1.4 billion won. However, the right expires if subscribers sold the shares or withdrew them from their allocated accounts, and if the Cosdaq index falls more than 10% from the listing date, the exercise price is adjusted, making the actual burden size flexible.

DB Securities must also hold 78,673 shares acquired within six months before submitting the listing review application for six months after listing, and 30,000 shares (3% of public shares) at the same price as the offering price for three months following listing as mandatory holdings. Adding the unsubscribed shares acquisition, the total number of company shares directly held by the underwriter amounts to 149,000 shares.

◇ Public filing states "**Unsubscribed shares from institutional allocation**"...DB Securities official says "**Not acquisition due to shortfall**"

The market is once again raising questions about the appropriateness of offering price determination. Haichtech entered through technology exception listing after receiving A-grade ratings from the Korea Technology Finance Corporation and NICE Evaluations for its core technology (high-precision 3D magnetic sensor SoC), but it is a pre-profit stage company that recorded consecutive net losses in 2024 and 2025. The demand forecast competition ratio reached 101.9 to 1, but the volume with confirmed mandatory holding commitments was only 5.6% of the allocation basis, and the offering price was determined at 23,000 won, the lower end of the hoped-for range (23,000-28,000 won). Nevertheless, institutional demand fell short of the allocation volume in the main subscription period, meaning that even the lower end of the band was not accepted by the market. The stock price plunged 39.4% compared to the offering price on the first day of listing.

In response, a DB Securities official told News S that this was "**not acquisition due to shortfall but a volume that we agreed to buy on a mandatory basis from the beginning**." However, the securities issuance performance report submitted by the company to the Financial Supervisory Service states that "40,000 unsubscribed shares resulted from the institutional investor allocation, which the listing promoter acquired on its own account." When asked about evidence of prior commitment to mandatory acquisition, the official responded, "We cannot confirm that." A securities industry expert noted that if DB Securities' explanation were correct—that this was a mandatory purchase volume—there would be a question about why the filing stated "unsubscribed shares from institutional investor allocation."

Regarding put-back options, the official stated, "No buybacks have come in yet," and "We plan to actively develop response measures as they come in." On the poor stock price performance, the official said, "The IPO market overall is not in good condition, so we don't have that previous atmosphere of surging prices right after listing," and "Since not just Haichtech but other IPOs are also sluggish, there must be some impact from market sentiment."

Nearslab, which listed around the same time, is also trading below the offering price, and put-back option burdens for lead underwriter Samsung Securities are being discussed. Second-half Cosdaq newcomers' sluggish performance appears to be developing into a risk issue for underwriters.