Krafton, a South Korea-based computer game publisher backed by gaming and internet group Tencent, will raise KRW4.3 trillion ($3.75bn) in its initial public offering, Bloomberg reported yesterday, citing a regulatory filing.
The listing will involve Krafton offering 8.65 million shares priced at the top of a revised KRW400,000 to KRW498,000 ($350 to $436) range, making it the second largest IPO held in the country so far.
The amount was about 25% smaller than the one disclosed earlier this month, after a regulator demanded the company amend its filings, Reuters reported.
Krafton is set to float on August 10 and will be valued at $21.2bn after the offering, up from the $18bn figure announced alongside the IPO filing in April this year.
Formed by video game producer Bluehole as a holding group in 2018, Krafton oversees subsidiaries including Bluehole Studio, PUBG Studio and Striking Distance Studios. It has sold some 70 million copies of its battle royale game, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
Approximately 70% of the IPO proceeds will go toward cross-border mergers and acquisitions, according to chief financial officer Bae Dong-keun.
Tencent had provided $61.5m for Bluehole in 2017 before returning for a $468m secondary transaction the following year that reportedly increased its stake to 11.5%.
Chang Byung-gyu, founder of Krafton, owns a 16.4% stake in the company, while an investment subsidiary of Tencent is its second largest shareholder, with 15.5%, according to data accessed by Reuters in a filing from late 2020.
Mirae Asset Daewoo is lead underwriter for the offering, while Citigroup Global Markets, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, Korea Investment & Securities and NH Investment & Securities are advisers.
