Wowpass operator Ubion to move to Kosdaq from Konex to raise up to $3.8 mn

South Korea’s e-learning consultancy service provider Ubion Co. is prepping to move to the country’s secondary Kosdaq bourse from the smaller and venture-focused Konex market to advance its services and expand the business pipelines.

According to industry sources on Tuesday, Union has filed for an application to prepare its initial public offering process. It aims to offer a total of 2.76 million new shares in a desired price band of 1,800-2,000 won ($1.26-1.40) apiece to raise up to 5.5 billion won ($3.8 million) based on the top end price.

Book-building session for pricing will kick off on Nov. 2, and retail investors will be able to subscribe its shares on Nov. 8-9. The company’s market cap on the Konex reaches 36.1 billion won as of Oct. 7.

Ubion, founded in 2000, develops and provides education services and edutech platforms in the field of finance, artificial intelligence and big data. It is well known as the operator of financial education site Wowpass (www.wowpass.com) for e-learning courses for licenses related to jobs.

With its relocation to the Kosdaq from the Konex, Ubion plans to strengthen the competitiveness of its Coursemos platform for management and support for learners, which has been used by about 120 universities and colleges in Korea as of March, the largest in the market.

For global service software launch, the company is exploring overseas partners and building local offices. Part of the proceeds will also be used to expand its research and development staff.

About 43 percent of the initial shares are free to be marketed on the first day. The holdings by financial investors Aju IB Investment, Korea Development Bank and Woori Technology Investment are subject to lock-up obligation for a month from the listing.

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