SEOUL, June 12 (AJP) -Elon Musk's SpaceX blasted off in the world's largest and most spectacular market debut, vacuuming up tens of billions of dollars from investors worldwide and underscoring why Seoul and other Asian markets had been rattled throughout the IPO week.
SpaceX on Thursday sold all 555,555,555 shares offered in its initial public offering at $135 apiece, raising $75 billion and valuing the rocket and satellite company at about $1.77 trillion. They go straight to Nasdaq on Friday.
The deal shattered the previous IPO fundraising record set by Saudi Aramco in 2019 and instantly became one of the most closely watched listings in modern market history. The scale of demand was equally extraordinary.
According to media reports, retail investors alone submitted more than $70 billion worth of orders, while global asset managers, sovereign wealth funds and family offices piled into the deal. BlackRock reportedly sought at least $5 billion worth of shares, with several other institutional investors placing similarly outsized orders.
The frenzy offered a glimpse into the powerful gravitational pull of a handful of mega-cap technology names that increasingly dominate global capital flows.
Foreigners took out nearly 30 trillion won ($20 billion) from KOSPI in Seoul in the first 10 days of June on top of around 52 trillion won worth in May, battering the Korean won to lose 2 percent this month and over 6 percent since the beginning of the year against the U.S. dollar.
For Korean individuals, the blockbuster IPO was largely out of reach.
The IPO allocation itself was effectively unavailable to most Korean retail investors, leaving exchange-traded funds listed in Korea or overseas as the primary avenue for exposure before the stock's debut.
Direct purchases become possible only after SpaceX begins trading under the ticker SPCX on Friday, though available float remains limited given Musk's estimated ownership of roughly 85 percent of the company.
Market participants said anticipation surrounding the listing had already contributed to capital being redirected away from Asian equities, including South Korea, as investors sought liquidity for potential participation in the landmark debut.
Investor deposits, a gauge of cash waiting on the sidelines of the stock market, fell to 127.6 trillion won as of Wednesday, down 2.5 trillion won from the previous session and the lowest level this month to suggest some may have gone to the Space X-devoted ETFs.
The timing coincided with unusual pressure on the Korean won and heightened volatility across domestic financial markets, prompting speculation that authorities were closely monitoring foreign exchange demand linked to overseas equity investment.
Still, the enthusiasm is expected to extend beyond the IPO.
Given its enormous valuation and expected trading volume, analysts believe the company could qualify for inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 as early as July, potentially triggering another wave of passive fund inflows and further cementing its status as one of the market's most influential stocks.
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