AAA Wantedly wanders toward public markets

Wantedly wanders toward public markets

Japan-based social recruitment platform Wantedly has filed for an initial public offering that will give exits to corporates including internet company CyberAgent, The Bridge has reported.

Founded in 2010 as Fuel by Naka, Wantedly operates a platform that concentrates on referral-based recruitment and business-focused social networking. It has roughly 800,000 individual members, 23,000 corporate members and records about 1.5 million unique visitors a month.

The company, which made a net profit of about $700,000 in 2016 from approximately $7.6m in revenue, has not priced the offering but plans to float on September 14, offering 50,000 shares and another 19,500 for over-allotment options. Daiwa Securities is the lead underwriter.

CyberAgent is Wantedly’s largest external shareholder, with an 11.1% stake, while media group Nihon Keizai Shimbun owns 1.2%. Wantedly chief executive Akiko Naka holds 70% of the company’s shares.

Other Wantedly shareholders include venture capital firm Archetype, company executives Yoshinori Kawasaki and Naoyoshi Aikawa, and angel investors Shogo Kawada, Shinji Kumura, Masanori Sugiyama and Kosuke Matsumoto.

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