U.S. law firms Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Paul Hastings, and South Korean law firm Kim & Chang have guided Doosan Robotics’ $317 million initial public offering on the Seoul Stock Exchange, the largest IPO in Korea this year.
The company is a leading maker of so-called “collaborative robots” that work side-by-side with humans and can perform tasks such as pouring beer and making coffee. South Korea has the highest employee-robot ratio in the world, according to a 2022 International Federation of Robotics report.
Doosan’s stock prices more than doubled on its debut on the exchange on Oct. 5, according to a Reuters report. Doosan's solid trade debut is a rare bright spot for IPO debutants around the world recently, where many have been sold off immediately or struggled to stay above their issue price in the first few days, the report said.
IPO proceeds in Asia Pacific slumped to the lowest in at least four years in October, hit mainly by slower capital-raising in mainland China, Bloomberg-compiled data showed.
The Cleary team that advised Doosan was led by Seoul partner Jinduk Han.
The Kim & Chang team that advised Doosan was led by foreign attorney Youngjin Sohn.
Paul Hastings advised the underwriters on the deal, consisting of Korea Investment & Securities and Mirae Asset Securities as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners, Credit Suisse, KB Securities and NH Investment & Securities as joint bookrunners, and UBS as co-manager. The team was led by corporate partner Iksoo Kim.
