Line Corp. has filed an F-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding its initial public offering (IPO). The sale could value the company at around 588 billion ($5.5 billion), it said. The offering is for 35 million shares, with an over-allotment of 5.25 million shares. Pricing will be set June 27, with final price revealed July 11. The company intends to list its ADSs on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LN.
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Nomura Holdings Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are the lead underwriters, people with knowledge of the matter have said. At the end of March, Line had roughly 218 million users, but this number has started to taper off recently after tripling over the past three years. The company said Friday it will list as LN.
Of LINE’s 175 million outstanding shares, 14.6 percent have been granted to its senior managers and staff members in stock options since 2012, which could be exercised only when the company is listed. No business has raised more than $150 million in a technology listing in 2016, even though more than 160 startups are now valued at $1 billion or more.
Market watchers said LINE’s IPO will likely have a positive impact on Naver’s share price down the road since it has removed uncertainty over its listing despite a lower-than-expected market capitalization.
“Made the decision to go public in both Japan and the United States to further enhance its strong position in Asia and to continue a more active global expansion”, the company said Friday. Naver is expected to own 83.3% of Line after the IPO.
Smartphone and other mobile gadget users can use the app to make free calls, send no-charge instant messages, and post photos or short videos, along with a host of other paid-services. In 2013, the company pulled in $317.5 million in revenue, and previous year it earned around $1 billion.
Based on these statistics, the company is the seventh-most used messenger app on a global scale.
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With 215 million active global users, Line is hugely popular in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia where many users regularly spend money on cute digital stickers and merchandised dolls.
