Korea's Only SpaceX Underwriter Books $300M in Minutes
Mirae Asset Securities, the only Korean brokerage in SpaceX's global underwriting syndicate, sold out its $300 million first-round allocation to South Korean professional investors within minutes of opening Friday — a signal that retail exclusion has done little to dampen the country's appetite for the world's most anticipated public offering.
The subscription was structured around minimum tickets of $100,000 and capped at $3 million per investor, targeting "registered professional investors" — a legal threshold that automatically shut out South Korea's roughly 14 million retail brokerage account holders. Mirae Asset briefly considered a retail tranche but concluded the deal structure "fell outside the scope of the country's current regulations."
A second round of $200 million is scheduled for Monday, bringing Mirae Asset's total domestic offering to $500 million. That figure represents only a portion of the estimated $5 billion in SpaceX shares industry sources say the firm could be allocated through its underwriting role alongside Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — approximately 20 global investment banks are participating in the syndicate.
SpaceX disclosed its IPO filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, targeting a Nasdaq listing as early as June 12. The company is seeking to raise $75 billion — potentially the largest IPO in history — at a $1.75 trillion post-money valuation.
SpaceX Proxies Buck Seoul's Worst Day in Months
Friday's sellout unfolded against an otherwise grim backdrop for Korean equities. The benchmark KOSPI fell 5.54 percent to 8,160.59 — its steepest single-session decline in months — after Broadcom's third-quarter AI revenue guidance of $16 billion disappointed elevated market expectations, cascading into the South Korean chip sector. Samsung Electronics slid 6.4 percent and SK hynix plunged 8.18 percent.
SpaceX-adjacent names bucked the selloff. OCI Holdings, a KOSPI-listed chemical maker whose Malaysian unit seeks to supply solar-grade polysilicon to SpaceX, surged 12.12 percent to 314,500 won — extending its year-to-date gain to 173 percent. Venture capital firm Aju IB Investment, which reportedly acquired pre-IPO SpaceX shares through a U.S. subsidiary, is up 446 percent year-to-date. Mirae Asset Venture Investment, which channels part of the parent group's roughly 800 billion won ($580 million) of SpaceX exposure accumulated since 2022, has gained 349 percent.
Mirae Asset Securities itself added 1.5 percent on Friday to close at 67,500 won, extending a year-to-date advance of approximately 190 percent — at one point making it among the best-performing listed financial stocks globally, according to Bloomberg data.
Analyst Caution as Listing Nears
Analysts flagged that the proxy rally may be approaching its ceiling. "The market has already largely priced in the SpaceX IPO and related expectations," noted Lee Jin-ho of Mirae Asset Securities, adding that momentum could fade once shares begin secondary trading post-listing. The analyst separately highlighted that SpaceX's U.S. national-security footprint likely prevents the company from sourcing polysilicon from Chinese suppliers, a regulatory tailwind for OCI Holdings' positioning.
For now, however, the minutes-long sellout of Mirae Asset's professional-investor tranche offers the clearest read yet on just how strongly Korean institutional money is chasing the Elon Musk-controlled rocket company — even as the broader market flashes caution signals.
Sources: Korea Herald — Mirae Asset's SpaceX offering sells out in minutes (June 6, 2026) · Korea Herald — Korea's SpaceX-linked shares surge ahead of blockbuster IPO · Korea Herald — Kospi plunges 5% on US chip stock rout
