Corporate direct financing in South Korea nearly tripled in January from the previous month due mainly to a massive initial public offering (IPO), data showed Thursday.

Local companies raised a combined 27.53 trillion won ($23.1 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last month, up 172.5 percent from December, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

Direct financing refers to raising funds directly from the stock and bond markets without borrowing from banks and other financial institutions.

Stock sales stood at 10.55 trillion won last month, up 615 percent from the prior month, driven mostly by the large-scale IPO by LG Energy Solution Ltd., South Korea's top car battery maker.

LG Energy Solution sold shares worth 10.2 trillion won to investors last month, making its debut on the country's main stock market.

Bond sales also spiked 96.8 percent on-month to 16.98 trillion won in January as more firms sought to refinance their existing debts.

Local companies issued commercial paper and short-term bonds worth 141.88 trillion won last month, up 19 percent from the previous month.

The value of outstanding corporate bonds came to 629.84 trillion won as of end-January, up 0.8 percent from a month earlier, according to the data. (Yonhap)