Endpoint security specialist ESTsecurity (CEO Jeong Jin-il) has announced that it has selected KB Securities as its underwriter for an initial public offering (IPO) and is formally proceeding with the listing process on the 2nd.

ESTsecurity is an industry-leading company based on the security technology and know-how of South Korea's representative antivirus 'ALYac', providing advanced AI-based security products and solutions. The company also recently appointed a new CEO in order to upgrade its services and expand its business into cloud and metaverse areas.

The main business of ESTsecurity is the sale of the ALYac antivirus and document centralization security solutions to public institutions, educational establishments, and corporations in a licensing format, forming a duopoly with AhnLab in the B2B security market and playing a role as a cash cow within the company. Moreover, the personal antivirus software ALYac has secured 16 million users, solidifying its position as the industry leader, and is thereby expected to have high growth potential due to possible expansion into the B2C sector.

The parent company of ESTsecurity is ESTsoft. ESTsecurity became independent from the parent company in 2017, a strategic decision based on enhancing expertise and growth for each business as the parent company actively expanded into various fields including artificial intelligence, software, portals, and gaming. Following its independence, ESTsecurity has been expanding its sales scale year by year, successfully turning into a net profit under the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in 2020, and in 2021 achieved a stable profit structure with an operating profit margin of 9% (on a Normalized basis adjusted for one-time expenses).

Following the selection of the underwriter, ESTsecurity is accelerating efforts to extend its existing businesses as well as to explore additional growth drivers for a successful IPO. Specifically, the company plans to embark on new ventures in areas such as SaaS, metaverse, and virtual asset security, and aims to expedite corporate growth through active investment attraction and mergers and acquisitions.

A representative of ESTsecurity stated, "Under the command of the newly joined CEO, ESTsecurity is quickly reorganizing its existing business, while at the same time, drawing a mid- to long-term roadmap to harness new growth engines and bringing the plan into action," and "The IPO is one of the core plans in our prepared growth roadmap, and we plan to apply for a preliminary listing review in 2024."