Japan-based mobile game producer Gumi went public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange yesterday pricing its shares at ¥3,300 ($27.70) each.
The company had already raised at least $99m in venture capital from social network Gree, gaming companies Sega, Zynga and Tecmo Koei, mobile network NTT Docomo, industrial conglomerate Nissei, corporate venturing syndicate B Dash Ventures, advertising firm Adways, investment firm Jafco, financial services firms Shinsei Bank and Mitsubishi UFJ, World Innovation Lab and DBJ Capital.
Gumi, which was founded in 2001 as mobile-focused social network Atmovie Pirates, produces social games for smartphones. Its most famous games include Brave Frontier, Attack of 1942, and Puzzle Bubble.
The IPO follows a $49m round closed in July this year, which was raised after a $19m round secured in December 2013.
Line, the Japan-based messaging app owned by Korea-based Naver Corporation, subsequently agreed in August to buy a sub-10% stake in Gumi for an undisclosed sum.
The company’s market capitalisation after its first day of trading stood at $756m, a good deal less than the $1bn some onlookers had predicted earlier in the year, though much of that difference can be attributed to the poor performance of the yen against the dollar in that time.