Line, the Japan-based messaging services operator owned by South Korea-based internet company Naver, has revived its plans for an initial public offering, Reuters reported yesterday.
Details of the IPO, which will be in the form of a dual listing in New York and Tokyo, are set to be revealed on June 10. The pricing is expected to be confirmed either the following week or towards the end of the month.
The company is aiming for a valuation of $2bn to $3bn, a sharp drop from the $10bn valuation it was targeting when it first filed in Tokyo in 2014. The drop in valuation is reportedly due to Line’s failure to grow its userbase throughout the past year.
Line first postponed the flotation until 2015 but in August 2015 decided to postpone the offering yet again until at least spring 2016.
The company was spun out of Naver in 2000 as Hangame Japan Corporation, but rebranded in 2013 to Line Corporation, after the name of its key product.
The company has more than 218 million monthly active users, an increase of only 13 million new users over twelve months. Line has struggled to compete with Messenger and WhatsApp, both owned by internet company Facebook, which have 900 million and a billion users, respectively.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Nomura are set to manage to the initial public offering.