▲ AI PRISM* Personalized Economic Briefing
* Editor's note: AI PRISM (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an artificial intelligence-based personalized news recommendation and summary service developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and provides six news items tailored to each reader type.
[Key Issue Briefing]
■ Polarization in the public offering market: The initial public offering market in the third quarter was led by small and mid-sized offerings, showing a KOSDAQ-centered recovery. The debt capital market, by contrast, shrank more than 40% from a year earlier amid consecutive base rate increases by the Bank of Korea and the U.S. Federal Reserve.
■ Realignment of K-beauty exports: Cosmetics exports hit a record high on a cumulative third-quarter basis, approaching last year's full-year total. U.S.-bound shipments jumped more than 40% while China's share fell to the 14% range, as the export market rapidly realigns around the United States.
■ Rise of the memory economy: CES, the world's largest information technology show, will make the "new memory economy" triggered by artificial intelligence a central theme at its event early next year. With soaring memory chip prices spreading from home appliances to PCs, smartphones and gaming, the show will address supply chain shifts in a standalone session for the first time.
[News of Interest to Startup Founders]
1. KOSDAQ-Led IPO Recovery as Corporate Bond Issuance Falls 40% [Signal]
- Key points: Third-quarter IPO proceeds totaled 498.4 billion won, down 58% from 1.19 trillion won a year earlier. The absence of any KOSPI listings weighed heavily, but new KOSDAQ listings reached 16, exceeding nine in the first quarter and eight in the second for the busiest showing so far this year. All seven companies that listed from September onward, including Skylabs (386380), Neosapience (0161M0) and Wise Planet Company (0010S0), saw their shares surge on the first day of trading. Analysts attribute the gains to lower valuations that left room for upside, along with retail investors betting trillions of won in subscription deposits. Public corporate bond issuance in the third quarter, meanwhile, came to 8.78 trillion won, down 43% from 15.38 trillion won a year earlier, as back-to-back base rate increases entrenched high borrowing costs.
2. K-Beauty Exports Reach $11.1 Billion in Nine Months, Nearing Last Year's Annual Total
- Key points: The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said on the 2nd that cumulative third-quarter cosmetics exports reached $11.1 billion, up 31.1% from a year earlier. It marked the largest figure on record for a nine-month period, reaching about 97% of last year's annual exports of $11.42 billion in just nine months. The United States led the growth, with exports from January through September reaching $2.35 billion, up 40.6%, and accounting for the largest share at 21.1%. Exports to China, by contrast, edged up just 0.4% to $1.58 billion, dropping its share to 14.2%. By product category, basic skincare products surged 45.1% to $8.72 billion, driving the overall increase.
3. CES to Spotlight 'New Memory Economy' Next Year
- Key points: According to the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), a "New Memory Economy" conference will be held on Jan. 5 next year, the day before CES 2027 opens. CES said AI demand is shifting the center of gravity in memory production from consumer chips to high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI, reshaping global semiconductor supply chains and corporate strategies. TrendForce projects HBM's share of total DRAM wafer input will rise from about 22% at the end of this year to 30% by the end of next year. CES will also hold a "Gaming Amid the Memory Crunch" session on Jan. 7 to separately address how memory shortages affect game development schedules and hardware supply. The show runs from Jan. 6 to 9 next year in Las Vegas.
4. Fierce Race to Secure AI Infrastructure as Dealmakers Rush to Close 'Before Rates Jump' [Signal]
- Key points: According to the Signal league table compiled by Seoul Economic Daily, cumulative domestic M&A deal value on a completed basis reached 62.05 trillion won in the third quarter, surpassing last year's full-year total of 61.4 trillion won in just nine months. SK Telecom (017670) spun off and established SK Horizon in August and announced plans to attract a combined 3.08 trillion won in investment from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and a consortium of IMM Investment and Stonebridge. Samsung Biologics (207940) agreed in July to acquire PolyPeptide Group for about 2.7 trillion won. With senior acquisition financing rates climbing to around 7%, a clear trend has emerged of closing deals before borrowing costs rise further, with mid- to large-sized transactions such as Carlyle's purchase of Chungho Nais and KG Group's acquisition of K Car wrapping up in succession. In legal advisory, Kim & Chang maintained its dominant position with 28 deals worth 8.68 trillion won, for a 46.97% market share.
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