The corporate value of Naver Webtoon, which is planning to list on the New York Stock Exchange, is expected to reach up to 3.7 trillion KRW after the listing.
Webtoon Entertainment, the headquarters of Naver Webtoon and its North American subsidiary, stated in a securities registration statement submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the 17th (local time) that the desired price range for the stock offering is $18 to $21 per share. Through this initial public offering (IPO), Webtoon Entertainment plans to issue 15 million common shares, raising up to $315 million (approximately 430 billion KRW).
The post-listing corporate value, based on the upper limit of the offering price, is expected to reach $2.67 billion (approximately 3.7 trillion KRW). Once the listing is completed, Webtoon Entertainment will be traded on the NASDAQ market under the ticker symbol 'WBTN'.
Even after the listing, Naver will hold a 63.4% stake in Webtoon Entertainment, maintaining its status as the controlling shareholder with the authority to appoint directors. Another shareholder, Line Yahoo (LY Corporation), will remain a major shareholder with a 24.7% stake. Separately, Webtoon Entertainment announced on the same day that Naver’s U.S. subsidiary, Naver U.Hub, has agreed to purchase $50 million worth of Webtoon Entertainment shares.
Webtoon Entertainment took its current form in 2020 after a restructuring of shareholding involving Naver Webtoon in Korea and Line Digital Frontier in Japan. The following year, Naver acquired Wattpad, the world’s largest web novel platform, for $600 million and placed it under Webtoon Entertainment.
With this IPO, Webtoon Entertainment is likely to expand its intellectual property (IP) business centered on the North American market. It is expected that activities such as securing web novel and webtoon IP locally and adapting them into video content will become more active.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
