South Korea's Mirae Asset Misses $1.1 Billion SpaceX IPO Allocation Due to Miscommunication

South Korean investment firm Mirae Asset Securities was the only one among 23 underwriters in SpaceX's recent record-breaking IPO not to receive any stock allocation, Bloomberg reported. The misunderstanding stemmed from Mirae Asset misinterpreting an early May expression of investor interest as binding orders. Consequently, the banks managing the IPO assumed Mirae had not submitted any firm retail investor orders, leading to no shares being allocated to the firm. This error meant that over $1.1 billion in Korean demand was never recorded in the IPO order book.

Mirae Asset, an early investor in Elon Musk's rocket, satellite communications, and AI company, had hoped the IPO would elevate its status among major global players. Instead, it now faces the need to apologize to its clients and is under investigation by South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) for its flawed allocation process. Mirae's vice chairmen, Kim Mi-seop and Huh Seon-ho, issued a statement on June 15, shortly after the $86 billion IPO, expressing regret and promising to review procedures to restore client trust.

FSS Chairman Lee Chan-jin called the outcome "unbelievable," expecting professional Korean investors to receive allocations easily. The incident highlights the complexities and risks involved in international IPO participation and regulatory scrutiny following high-profile listings like SpaceX's.