SFC称最早11月冲刺KOSPI上市并推进半导体材料客户验证

SFC could list on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) as early as November. The company has been registered as a first-tier vendor for major customers in its semiconductor materials business and is conducting mass-production evaluations. SFC plans to use the listing to diversify its business beyond organic light-emitting diode (OLED) materials into semiconductors and biotech.
SFC is proceeding with an initial public offering (IPO), targeting a listing in early November, according to industry sources on Sept. 3. The company applied for a preliminary listing review with the Korea Exchange (KRX) on July 24. Mirae Asset Securities is the lead underwriter, with Korea Investment & Securities serving as co-underwriter.
KRX rules for the KOSPI market require preliminary listing review results to be provided in writing to the applicant and the Financial Services Commission within 45 business days of receiving an application. Excluding weekends and public holidays, SFC’s review deadline falls in early October.
If SFC passes the preliminary review within that period, it will proceed with the IPO process in October, including filing a securities registration statement, institutional bookbuilding and a public subscription. That would allow the company to list in November as planned.
The market values SFC at about 1 trillion won. Its final valuation and IPO price will be determined through institutional bookbuilding after it passes the preliminary review.
SFC develops and produces hosts and dopants used in the blue-emitting layer of OLEDs. Blue-emitting materials use more energy than red and green materials, making it difficult to achieve efficiency, lifetime and color purity simultaneously. SFC is known as a South Korean company that develops and mass-produces both blue hosts and dopants.
Revenue last year was 160.8 billion won, up 1.7% from 158.1 billion won a year earlier. Operating profit was 21.7 billion won, with an operating margin of 13.5%.
Japan’s Hodogaya Chemical is the largest shareholder with a 56.36% stake. The SVIC No. 37 New Technology Business Investment Fund established by Samsung Venture Investment holds a 33.88% stake as the second-largest shareholder. The structure effectively makes Samsung Display a strategic investor.
Samsung Display is SFC’s largest customer. SFC generated 117.1 billion won in revenue from Samsung Display in 2024, accounting for about 74% of the total. While this provides a stable source of demand, earnings could fluctuate significantly depending on Samsung Display’s OLED panel shipments and investment plans.
The concentration of SFC’s business is one reason behind its planned listing. The company is known to invest about 20% of annual revenue in research and development (R&D). With continued funding required for materials development, customer evaluations and production facilities, SFC needs external capital to maintain its OLED competitiveness while expanding new businesses.
Mobile OLED material generations have also been changing more rapidly, while device structures have become increasingly complex. This has increased the R&D burden as SFC must continue developing next-generation materials while managing production and quality of existing products.
Proceeds from the IPO are expected to be used to strengthen R&D and production capabilities for its core OLED materials business and develop new businesses including semiconductor materials and biotech.
The semiconductor materials business has passed an initial hurdle in entering the supply chain. SFC is applying molecular design and synthesis technologies accumulated through its OLED emitting-materials business to semiconductor materials. The company has established separate semiconductor materials production facilities at its existing site. It is expected to expand investment in related equipment and R&D personnel after the listing.
“SFC has been registered as a first-tier vendor for DuPont and Samsung SDI and is conducting mass-production tests and supplying samples of materials for supply-chain diversification,” an industry official said. “The scale is still small, but some materials have begun generating revenue.”
Biotech is another pillar of the company’s diversification strategy. The biotech business is understood to have passed its break-even point last year. Once semiconductor materials enter full-scale mass production, SFC will have three business pillars comprising OLEDs, semiconductor materials and biotech.
“SFC has the business cycle typical of a materials company, which requires profits to be reinvested in R&D and production facilities,” an industry official said. “The listing is aimed at securing funding to maintain OLED competitiveness while developing semiconductor materials and biotech to reduce its concentration on a particular industry and customer.”