Mercari, a Japan-based online marketplace operator backed by corporates GMO, Itochu, Mitsui and United, is looking to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by the end of June 2018, Nikkei reported today.
Founded in 2013, Mercari operates a marketplace app enabling users to buy and sell second-hand goods. The company claims its app has been downloaded more than 100 million times across Japan, the US and the UK, particularly attracting a young, unbanked demographic.
Proceeds from the initial public offering, which is expected to include a combination of secondary and newly issued shares, would support international expansion efforts and enable Mercari to enter new verticals.
The offering would value Mercari at more than $1.8bn. It filed for an IPO in the summer of 2017 and was initially aiming to list by the end of the year, only to draw the attention of Japan’s Financial Services Agency.
The agency considered that the company should be placed in a category with strict regulation due to a feature on the platform allowing users to transfer revenue from a sale into a purchase of a different item.
Mercari was eventually allowed to register in a less-stringent category, and implemented additional security measures last month to prevent against fraud following a request from the country’s law enforcement.
Tokyo Stock Exchange’s self-regulatory arm, Japan Exchange Group, plans to track Mercari’s revenues over the coming three months to see whether the anti-fraud measures will impact transactions before deciding whether to give the IPO the go ahead.
Mercari has raised almost $115m in funding. It closed a $75m series D round in 2016 that included conglomerate Mitsui & Co, financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank’s Japan Co-Invest unit and state-owned financial institution Development Bank of Japan.
Globis Capital Partners, World Innovation Lab and Global Brain also took part in the series D round, which valued the company at more than $1bn.
Internet company United supplied $3m for Mercari in 2013, before Global Brain and Globis joined Itochu Technology Ventures and GMO Venture Partners, respective subsidiaries of conglomerate Itochu and internet company GMO, to inject $14m in March 2014.
GMO Venture Partners, Global Brain, Globis, East Ventures and World Innovation Lab subsequently added $22m in October the same year.