[IPO] Robot-related stock BRILS sees successful public subscription... Demand forecast exceeded with 1676:1 ratio

As expectations for the growth of the robot industry increase due to the combination of expanding AI investment and the automation transition of the manufacturing industry, BRILS has continued its success in the general public subscription following the demand forecast.

The results of the general investor public subscription for BRILS, which took place from the 17th to the 18th, recorded a competition ratio of 1676.26:1. Approximately 14,000 subscription applications were received by the lead manager, IBK Securities, with the resulting deposit amounting to about 4.9 trillion won.

This public offering was conducted entirely through a new share issuance of 1.2 million shares. The allocation is 720,000 shares (60%) for institutional investors, 300,000 shares (25%) for general investors, and 180,000 shares (15%) for the employee stock ownership association, with the total offering amount based on the finalized offering price being 23.4 billion won.

Previously, during the institutional demand forecast held from the 9th to the 15th, demand was concentrated at the upper end of the desired band. 2,181 domestic and foreign institutional investors participated and applied for 852.17 million shares, of which 98.93% proposed a price at or above the upper end of the desired band. Accordingly, the final offering price was fixed at 19,500 won, the upper end of the band, and the final competition ratio recorded 1187.74:1.

The institutional mandatory holding commitment ratio was calculated at 21.75%, and the floating supply at the time of listing is 26.42% of the total planned listed shares. Although some volume of institutional mandatory holding commitments has been secured, additional volume may enter the market as the lock-up periods for existing shareholders and institutional investors are sequentially released.

BRILS is a robot system integration (SI) company that performs the entire process from the design of robot automation systems to production, control, installation, commissioning, and maintenance. Centered on the automotive industry, it is expanding its application areas to logistics, manufacturing, and food processing, with four main solutions: high-precision inspection, logistics, manufacturing, and food processing.

The core is a structure that moves away from the SI method of developing anew for every project and instead modularizes the technology secured from existing projects. Technologies such as robot control, sensing, inspection, safety, and EOAT (End-of-Arm Tooling) are standardized and repeatedly applied to various projects. The cumulative number of projects presented by the company stands at 1,295 for the period of 2020–2025, a structure that converts project experience into technological assets to lower development periods and costs.

In particular, the high-precision inspection solution accumulated in the automotive field serves as the foundation of the business. Unlike simple one-time equipment supply, the business structure is different in that inspection software, jigs, and precision control modules verified in existing mass production lines can be reapplied to new vehicle models, production line expansions, or overseas factory projects.

However, the fact that a significant portion of the business is linked to the facility investment and project orders of customers is a risk. If an economic slowdown or a reduction in investment in front-end industries occurs, orders and revenue recognition may be delayed together. Additionally, as revenue dependency on certain industries such as automobiles and major customers is high, there is a possibility that performance may be affected by changes in the investment plans or orders of specific customers. Competition is intensifying as automation specialist companies and large conglomerate affiliates enter the robot SI market, and there is also a continuous research and development burden to respond to changes in AI, vision, and robot control technologies.

BRILS's performance turned to a surplus in 2025 and continued the improving trend in the first half of 2026. Following the turnaround of operating profit and net profit along with revenue expansion, profitability appears to be recovering in the first half of this year as well.

The performance reversal in 2025 was driven by the expansion of orders centered on high-precision inspection solutions and the increase in revenue from the manufacturing robot business. As the scope of application for existing solutions expanded, centered on automotive-related projects, the scale of revenue grew, and operating profit also turned to a surplus as the cost burden from the previous year—which included expanding manufacturing and research personnel, depreciation of the new headquarters, and initial stabilization costs for new solutions—decreased.

In the first half of 2026, revenue growth and profit improvement continued together. Revenue for the first half was 13.7 billion won, an increase of 21.1% compared to the same period last year, and operating profit was 800 million won, an increase of 16.7%. During the same period, net profit increased more than threefold to 900 million won. The profit growth trend following the turnaround continued as the expansion of applied industries for manufacturing robot solutions and the expansion of revenue toward domestic completed vehicle groups for high-precision inspection solutions drove external growth.

BRILS plans to invest the funds secured through this offering into research and development (R&D), expanding production infrastructure, and operating its US subsidiary. Excluding listing-related costs, the net proceeds are approximately 23 billion won, of which 16.7 billion won is allocated for facility funds and 6.3 billion won for operating funds.

The focus of the facility funds is the construction of the Daegu R&D Center and the expansion of production bases in Incheon and Asan. Specifically, 10.7 billion won will be invested in the construction of the Daegu R&D Center and research facilities/test equipment, and 6 billion won will be invested in the expansion of the Incheon Songdo Research Complex and the Asan Dunpo Industrial Complex. In Daegu, they plan to research core robot parts, physical AI, and on-device AI, while Incheon will focus on robot manufacturing and demonstration, and Asan will serve as a hub for assembly, inspection, and mass production based on modularized platforms.

For the US subsidiary, 6.3 billion won will be invested from 2027 to 2029. This will be used for office rent and operating expenses, local personnel, sales and technical services, and overseas exhibitions and marketing; initially, the focus will be on establishing a base for North American sales and customer response rather than production facilities. Through the US subsidiary, BRILS plans to increase its ability to discover local customers and respond to projects, and plans to step-by-step pursue the establishment of a local production system in line with the future expansion of North American business.