South Korea's Mirae Asset Securities Excluded From SpaceX IPO Share Allocation, Sparks Outrage

South Korea's financial sector is reeling after Mirae Asset Securities was completely shut out of the SpaceX IPO share allocation, despite being named as a joint underwriter. The firm was initially set to underwrite 2.31 million shares, a deal worth approximately $312.5 million.

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The underwriting quantity refers to the underwriting ratio based on the underwriting team's participation, and is different from the number of shares actually allocated to investors.

Goldman Sachs, the lead underwriter, informed Mirae Asset Securities on the morning of the IPO that no shares would be allocated. This decision has sparked outrage in South Korea, with critics decrying it as a blatant exclusion and disregard for the South Korean market. The exclusion is particularly galling given SpaceX's stellar IPO debut, with its stock price soaring 19% on the first day, reaching a market value of $2.1 trillion.

Mirae Asset Securities clarified that the initial underwriting number reflects participation in the syndicate but not the final allocation, which is determined by the lead underwriter. However, the complete lack of shares has led to speculation about the reasons. Some point to Goldman Sachs's discretionary power and the limited bargaining leverage of the South Korean channel. Others suggest that SpaceX, under Elon Musk, may have influenced the decision, possibly due to Mirae Asset Securities's non-adoption of Musk's AI enterprise application, 'Grok Enterprise.'

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The lead underwriter determined the actual sales volume allocated to each underwriter based on their final decision and allocation procedures after the underwriters completed their share subscriptions and met all relevant conditions.

This situation is highly unusual, as reports indicate South Korea is the only participating country whose institutional investors received zero shares. In contrast, Japanese investors, who applied for over 1 trillion yen in shares, were allocated approximately $2.2 billion, albeit less than their application amount. The exclusion has left South Korean investors, including VIP clients who invested heavily based on Mirae Asset Securities's overseas financing capabilities, deeply disappointed and likely to protest.

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It is equivalent to a major global lead underwriter completely excluding and ignoring the South Korean market and domestic investors when the underwriting volume was clearly stated in the disclosure documents, but not a single share was allocated in the final stage.