Line Plans Multi-Billion Dollar IPO In July, In Tokyo And New York
By Shuli Ren
Japan’s Line Corp., which makes a popular messaging app similar to Tencent‘s (700.Hong Kong) WeChat, is planning to go public this July, with a dual listing in Tokyo and New York.
Line is hoping to raise $1-2 billion, valuing the company at $5-6 billion, reported Bloomberg. It will be the world’s largest IPO this year. The tech company hopes to get half of the money from U.S. investors.
Line’s IPO is coming perhaps a bit too late. It filed an application to list in Tokyo almost two years ago, in July 2014, when the mobile messaging company was valued at $9.2 billion.
The problem with Line is slower user growth. Its monthly active users have been at around 200 million for a while now, and it has struggled to break into markets outside Japan. Tencent’s monthly active users, by comparison, have already reached 877 million.
Parent Naver Corp. (035420.Korea) has gained almost 3% in the last two trading days on news of Line IPO.
Source: Barron's Asia