Korean Unicorn APR Files for Preliminary IPO Review on KRX

SEOUL, South Korea–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#APRILSKIN—APR, a beauty-tech company APR (CEO Byung-hoon Kim) announced today that it filed for a preliminary review on the Korea Exchange (KRX) on September 22.

Shinhan Securities is the lead underwriter and Hana Securities is the co-underwriter. With the application, APR begins its full-scale preparation for its initial public offering (IPO). After the application is approved, the company will submit the prospectus. Then, through demand prediction, subscription, and other steps, it will go public on the main KOSPI market early next year.

Established in October 2014, APR is a global beauty-tech company performing in Korea and across the world based on its beauty device and brands. It is known as a unicorn company with the valuation of over KRW 1 trillion. Since launching its beauty device brand MEDICUBE AGE-R in 2021, APR has continued an explosive growth trend. Having recorded sales and operating profit of KRW 259.1 billion and KRW 4.2 billion respectively in 2021, APR advanced to a medium-standing company with KRW 397.7 billion in sales and KRW 39.2 billion in operating profit in 2022. In the first half of this year, the company logged KRW 48 billion in operating profit, topping its annual operating profit of 2022.

APR’s valuation has risen as quickly as its performance growth. In March 2023, it completed a pre-IPO investment round of approximately KRW 700 billion, and in June 2023, it attracted an investment from CJ ONSTYLE that valued the company at KRW 1 trillion, making it a unicorn. When it lists on the stock market, APR will be the third unicorn company to do so in South Korea, following SOCAR and APROGEN in 2022.

For APR’s growth, the company’s globally popular beauty device played a significant role. AGE-R beauty device, which comprises six products (Derma EMS Shot, Ussera Deep Shot, ATS Air Shot, Booster Healer, Eye Shot, Body Shot), opened a new genre in K-beauty with cumulative sales reaching over one million units at home and abroad in only two years since launch. In particular, Booster Healer, released in July 2022, leads the company’s overall performance by being a product for beauty device beginners.

In addition, with MEDICUBE, APRILSKIN, FORMENT and GLAM.D BIO, which are APR’s internal brands, sales from the beauty category represent about 80% of the company’s total sales. NERDY, a fashion brand, and PHOTOGRAY, a photo booth brand, also produce solid sales in the respective areas.

APR CEO Byung-hoon Kim said, “APR has strived for innovation based on the AGE-R beauty device and our technological power in the domestic and foreign beauty industries. Advancing from a unicorn company, we will be successfully listed on the KOSPI market and become a global company leading K-beauty.”

Contacts

Joon Hur

communications@apr-in.com