Japan-based global messaging app operator LINE Corp. said Tuesday that it has set the price range of its initial public offering (IPO) at between 2,700 yen and 3,200 yen (US$31.60) a share, roughly matching its previously hoped-for price of 2,800 yen per share, amid increased market tumult sparked by Britain’s unprecedented vote to leave the European Union (EU).
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“An announcement related to the price range will be disclosed at some point after 3:00PM on Monday”, said Shin Ichikawa, a spokesman for Line.
Earlier, Line had said that it will sell 35 million new shares seeking to raise as much as 113 billion yen or about $1.1 billion in the IPO, making it the biggest IPO by a technology company this year.
The company plans to list in Tokyo on July 15.
AS popular messaging app LINE prepares for the biggest tech IPO of 2016, the company is reportedly struggling to convince skeptical fund managers that its growth plan can work.
Britain’s vote to exit the European Union has negatively affected nearly all the major markets.
Line’s listing will go ahead according to its planned schedule, the company said on Friday. Its main markets are Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan and Thailand.
Japan’s retail investors have also shown strong interest in the shares, brokerages in Tokyo said.
However, as popular as it is, the company’s growth in its home market of Japan has been stalling since late a year ago.
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The IPO is set to launch two years after the company first submitted an application to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as part of an offering that had been expected to value it at more than $10 billion. In a bid to tap new sources of revenue and attract more users, Line said in March that it would launch a host of new services, including a low-priced mobile carrier, and expand its mobile-payment service.
