Cape Investment Unlikely to Go Public this Year

Cape Investment and Securities, which has been preparing to go public for a long time, is facing a bumpy road ahead in listing its shares on the main bourse this year due to the bearish stock market caused by lingering uncertainties both at home and abroad.

The brokerage is also embroiled in a labor dispute, another hurdle in attracting investors to an initial public offering (IPO).

The nation's IPO market has also drawn huge attention thanks to a series of big-name entries slated for this year, but is failing to raise the temperature since shares suddenly began turning sluggish after the failure of the U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, last month.

According to industry sources, Cape Investment named Hana Financial Investment as lead manager for the IPO last April, but any tangible progress has to date yet to be seen.

It's highly likely that Cape Investment will postpone going public until next year, considering the brokerage's current situation.

"Cape was included in the list of last year's possible IPO firms since it signed a deal with Hana in April. Due to the nation's sluggish stock market in the second half, however, the IPO was believed to have been postponed until investment confidence recovered," a major brokerage IPO analyst said on condition of anonymity.

Shares could regain momentum at any point this year, but it is still difficult for Cape...