Line, a mobile messaging app, has raised its initial public offering price from ¥2,900 to ¥3,300 ($28.50-$32.50) per share on the Tokyo stock exchange, raising around ¥115.5bn ($1.12bn). Previously, the IPO price of the shares was at ¥2,700 to ¥3,200.
Under the IPO issue, Line is offering about 35 million shares and is also planning to list on the New York stock exchange between July the 14th and 15th.
Line said that due to a rise in demand and stock market conditions, the decision to increase the stock price was taken. According to Line, investors are keen on the IPO despite recent market conditions because of Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Line previously had plans to go public two years ago but held back with hopes of getting a better reception from investors. Instead, it cost the company $3bn in terms of valuation due to delay.
According to Bloomberg, during the same time, Facebook starting advancing into mobile messaging which caused the fall in the valuation of Line.
At present, it is argued that the timing of Line for its IPO pricing could be wrong due to prevailing turmoil in investors about Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Line had delayed its IPO announcement on Monday to study the market conditions for the whole day and come out with raised pricing.
Fortune reported that the rise in price could suggest that investors have warmed to an IPO pitch that weighed more on value and steady returns in its core markets in Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Taiwan.
According to fund managers, the pricing could have been a better option when Line had more value during the period of rapid growth.
Line, with the funds generated from the IPO wants to take on its much-larger rivals including Facebook and Tencent Holdings and has also plans to rapidly and steadily expand its 218 million user base from its strongest markets in Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan to most of Asia and eventually in the US.
