The game company behind “PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds”, also known as PUBG, Krafton Inc, laid out its target upon its IPO in South Korea.
South Korea is experiencing an IPO frenzy in 2021. Analysts expect the country would raise at least 20 trillion won in 2021 from IPO. This level alone quadrupled the 2020’s records.
One of them, Choi Jong-kyung of Heungkuk Securities, said, “This year is unprecedented in the concentration of huge new listings on the KOSPI with market capitalisations that range from trillions of won to tens of trillions of won”.
Among the list of companies aiming for an IPO is Krafton. On Wednesday, Krafton revealed its expectations upon the upcoming IPO.
The Tencent-backed company is targeting to raise 5.6 trillion won ($5 billion) at the top of an indicative range with its IPO, Reuters quotes. Accordingly, this figure would mark another record for the country.
In a regulatory filing, Krafton also said that 10 million shares are expected to be shared. Another option being considered by Krafton is to offer 7 million new shares and 3 million existing shares, at an indicative range of 458,000-557,000 won per share.
At the top of the range, Krafton could break another record for South Korea’s largest listing. The previous record, carried by Samsung Life Insurance, was at 4.9 trillion won IPO in 2010.
The report from Reuters further noted that the company is deciding the pricing in the coming weeks, while expecting to finalize the listing in July.
Krafton estimated its valuation to reach 35 trillion won with the price-to-earnings ratio at 45.2. This figure goes slightly lower than its peers NCSoft and Netmarble.
Mirae Asset Securities will be handling Krafton’s IPO as the lead advisor. Along with Mirae, Krafton is also assigning Credit Suisse, NH Investment & Securities, Citigroup and JP Morgan as advisors.
Krafton: future projects oncoming
Krafton is most known for its online multiplayer war-fighting game PUBG. The company has sold 25 million copies of PC and game consoles. The game easily became one of the fastest-selling games since its launch in 2017.
Continuing PUBG’ success, Krafton will be releasing two more games based on the PUBG intellectual property (IP). The first game entitled “PUBG: New State” will focus on a mobile game. Meanwhile, Krafton will be targeting the Indian market through the second title, “Battlegrounds mobile India”.
Additionally, the company is also expanding its business. Krafton is planning to reach web-based cartoons, movies and animation, and developing deep learning, AI business model targeting consumers.
Accordingly, Krafton reported 1.67 trillion won in revenue in 2020. The operating profit for the game company grew over twice bigger from the previous year to 774 billion.
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