[Exclusive] Yanolja Negotiates 1 Trillion KRW Investment from SoftBank Vision Fund... Pursuing Nasdaq Listing

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Comprehensive leisure platform Yanolja is negotiating a 1 trillion KRW investment with the world's largest venture capital fund, SoftBank Vision Fund. Yanolja plans to use this as a stepping stone to actively pursue a listing on the US Nasdaq market.

According to the IB industry on the 25th, Yanolja is reportedly in discussions to secure a 1 trillion KRW investment from the Vision Fund under Japan's SoftBank Group, led by Chairman Masayoshi Son. If the investment is successfully completed, Yanolja will become the fourth domestic company to receive investment support from the Vision Fund. Previously, the Vision Fund invested in Coupang (3 billion USD), iU-NO Media (160 million USD), and Riiid (175 million USD).

An insider from Yanolja stated, "Yanolja and the Vision Fund are negotiating and promoting the investment," adding, "However, the investment amount has not been finalized yet, and the planned initial public offering (IPO) is directed towards Nasdaq, not the domestic market."

The Vision Fund is said to have valued Yanolja at 10 trillion KRW and sought to negotiate investment execution at around 1 trillion KRW.

However, Yanolja's public relations office denied these facts. The PR office officially stated, "This is groundless," while adding, "Although the listing is underway, it has not been decided whether it will be in the domestic or US market."

According to an insider, Yanolja has shifted its direction towards a US Nasdaq listing and is currently pursuing it. This is interpreted as stemming from the "Coupang effect." Since Coupang entered the New York Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of about 100 trillion KRW, Yanolja also plans to have its corporate value recognized in the US.

The difference in corporate valuation also played a role in turning towards the US market. Domestic securities firms estimate Yanolja's corporate value at around 5 trillion KRW, but Yanolja expects at least 10 trillion KRW or more when listing in the US. This is in light of the fact that Airbnb, a shared accommodation platform with ten times Yanolja's sales, has a market capitalization of 131 trillion KRW. The company also emphasizes that it is an IT company equipped with a cloud-based property management system (PMS). Last year, Yanolja acquired India's Easy Technosys, which holds the second-largest global market share in the PMS sector, and its B2B transaction volume exceeded 11.6 trillion KRW last year. It is evaluated that Yanolja has diversified its revenue structure through leisure platforms and software services.

Meanwhile, on the morning of the same day, on the unlisted investment platform "Securities Plus Unlisted," Yanolja's estimated stock price was 104,000 KRW per share, with an estimated market capitalization of 9.04 trillion KRW. An IB industry official said, "Yanolja had been pursuing a two-track strategy to proceed with listings in both domestic and US markets simultaneously, but currently, the domestic listing process has been halted," adding, "They plan to successfully complete the investment with the Vision Fund and proceed with the US Nasdaq listing." He further added, "Since there has been no precedent of a unicorn company (a startup valued at over 1 trillion KRW) being listed with a corporate value in the tens of trillions KRW domestically, it is inevitably evaluated conservatively, so heading to the US is considered a natural step."