Musinsa grapples with multiple hurdles in preliminary IPO review

Musinsa has begun the process of going public, setting up a test to see whether investors will accept a valuation of nearly 10 trillion won ($7.4 billion) amid slowing growth and a special tax audit, market watchers said Tuesday. Korea's largest fashion platform filed for a preliminary review of its initial public offering (IPO) on Monday, according to the Korea Exchange. Korea Investment & Securities and Citigroup Global Markets Korea are serving as lead underwriters, while KB Securities and JPMorgan are joint underwriters. "The purpose of this preliminary review is to assess the feasibility of a listing, which we are considering as one of our financing options to support our growth as a global company," Musinsa said in a statement. Founded in 2001, Musinsa operates its flagship online fashion platform, Musinsa Store, women's fashion platform 29CM and private-label brand Musinsa Standard. The company has been expanding beyond online retail by increasing its offline presence and pushing into overseas markets. Musinsa has internally valued itself at about 10 trillion won, roughly triple t