[Edaily Reporter Hyera Lee ] There are signs that investors are beginning to actively exercise their putback options for newly listed stocks #Inventera Inc. and #CHAEVI CO., LTD., which have been trading below their initial public offering (IPO) prices since going public this year. While the scale of exercise has been limited so far, observers note that if stock prices continue to trade below the IPO price, the burden on the lead underwriters could increase.
A putback option is the right of an investor to sell back the IPO shares they were allocated to the underwriting securities firm. Within a certain period after the listing, investors have the right to sell the shares back to the securities firm where they subscribed at approximately 90% of the IPO price.

According to the securities industry on the 22nd, among the 14 companies newly listed on the KOSDAQ market this year, four—RecensMedical, Inc., Inventera Inc., CHAEVI CO., LTD., and COSMO ROBOTICS CO., Ltd.—granted putback options to retail investors at the time of their listings.
Of these, RecensMedical, Inc. and COSMO ROBOTICS CO., Ltd. are trading above their initial public offering (IPO) prices based on today’s closing prices and are therefore not subject to the putback option.
The issue lies with Inventera Inc. and CHAEVI CO., LTD. Both stocks have been trading below their initial public offering (IPO) prices every day since their listings.
Inventera Inc. set the exercise period for the put option at six months after listing, which runs until October 22. After listing on April 2, Inventera Inc. fell below its IPO price (16,600 won) for the first time during trading on the 18th of last month, and based on closing prices, it has remained below the IPO price from May 19 through today. Inventera Inc. closed at 9,410 won today, down approximately 43.31% from its IPO price.
CHAEVI CO., LTD has set its buyback request period at three months. Requests can be made until the 29th of next month. Since falling below its IPO price (12,300 won) on the 27th of last month—following its listing on April 29—CHAEVI CO., LTD has not recovered to the IPO price level for a single day up to today. Based on today’s closing price, the stock is down approximately 41.46% from its IPO price.
Ultimately, if the stock prices of both companies remain significantly below their IPO prices by the exercise deadline, the volume of putback options exercised is likely to increase further. Given the nature of IPO shares, it is common for a significant number of investors to take profits when the stock shows strength on the day of listing or in the early stages of trading. However, it is interpreted that the unexercised volume could act as a potential burden on securities firms.
The lead underwriters for Inventera Inc.’s IPO are NH (Lead) andEUGENE INVESTMENT & SECURITIES(001200). For CHAEVI CO., LTD, KB andSamsungSecurities(016360)served as joint lead underwriters, with DaishinSecurities(003540)and Hana Securities participating as co-underwriters.
Since putback options involve transactions between retail investors and securities firms, they do not directly affect on-exchange supply and demand. However, from the perspective of securities firms, they can be a burden as they create a volume of shares that must be repurchased. In particular, if the volume they are left holding is substantial, there is a possibility that it could increase the stock price volatility of the relevant stock as selling pressure enters the market in the future.
According to industry sources, the actual volume of putback options exercised for these two stocks has been modest so far. An official from a securities firm that participated in the CHAEVI CO., LTD. acquisition stated, “So far, only a small volume of putback options has been exercised, and even considering the volume that could potentially be exercised, we expect the scale to remain modest.” The official added, “Given that the exercise price is in the range of 1,000 to 2,000 won per share and the volume itself is not large, we do not anticipate this to pose a significant burden to the company even if additional options are exercised in the future.”
However, there have been cases in the past where lead underwriters bore the burden due to large-scale exercises of putback options. W-SCOPE CHUNGJU PLANT CO., LTD.(393890), a manufacturer of lithium-ion battery separators that went public in 2022, saw putback options worth tens of billions of won exercised after its stock price plummeted following the IPO. KB Securities, which served as the lead underwriter at the time, repurchased the shares, which impacted its short-term earnings.