[THE INVESTOR] Koreacenter.com, which operates Korea’s largest international shipping assistance firm Malltail, on Feb. 6 said it is gearing up to float shares on the secondary Kosdaq bourse in the second half of this year.

Ahead of the planned IPO, Koreacenter.com recently received 26 billion won (US$23.66 million) of funds from a local venture capital firm, VC Soo Investment. 

NH Investment & Securities and Shinhan Investment will manage the IPO.

“We have earned rave reviews from investors on MakeShop and Malltail’s potential growth, and also see much global growth potential from our established overseas framework,” said Kim Ki-rock, CEO of Koreacenter.com. “Through the recent investment and a successful IPO, we hope to take the leap to becoming a global commerce platform firm.”

Established in 2000, Koreacenter.com provides various e-commerce services. Starting with MakeShop, which provides e-commerce platform for companies, it now operates Malltail, Taillist, an overseas direct buying, or “jikgu” site, and Mklaud AP, an advertisement service provider.

In 2016, Koreacenter.com posted revenue of 114 billion won, with 37 billion won from MakeShop and 77 billion won from Malltail. Its sales more than doubled since 2013 when it came to 58 billion won in 2013, on the back of the rapidly growing jikgu market.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)