Shares in the world’s biggest shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries more than doubled from their initial public offering price when they made their stock trading debut on Friday.

Hyundai Heavy’s IPO follows a restructuring of the wider group linked to a deal to take a majority stake in global number two Daewoo, although that is still waiting regulatory approval.

Hyundai Heavy’s IPO follows a restructuring of the wider group linked to a deal to take a majority stake in global number two Daewoo, although that is still waiting regulatory approval

The Hyundai Heavy flotation price was set at 60,000 Korean won (€43.39), but they rocketed to 135,000 won in the first hour of trading in Seoul, up 125 per cent. By early afternoon the price had slipped back to 115,000 won, giving it a market capitalisation of more than 10 trillion won (€7.2 billion).

More than 1,600 domestic and foreign institutional investors applied for shares during the flotation process earlier this month. The offering raised 1.08 trillion won.

Hyundai Heavy said it planned to use around 760 billion won of the flotation proceeds to invest in next-generation vessels and environment-friendly technologies. 

The Daewoo transaction was announced in 2019 but still needs approval from authorities in South Korea, Japan and the European Union. If it goes ahead it will consolidate Hyundai Heavy’s position as the dominant global shipbuilder, giving it more than 20 per cent of the market.