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Line
set the IPO price at 3,300 yen per share, compared with its
book-building range of 2,900-3,300 yen, a filing with Japan's
finance ministry showed on Monday.
It had initially set the range at 2,700-3,200 yen but bumped it
up last week amid buoyant demand.
Line, owned by South Korea's Naver Corp <035420.KS>, is set for
a dual New York and Tokyo listing this week, raising funds and
boosting its profile to ratchet up its global expansion outside
its key markets of Japan and Southeast Asia.
"This is seen as an event by many domestic retail investors. I
think the price will rise in the short term," said Mitsushige
Akino, executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management.
But he added that investors will also need to look at whether
the company increases profits in the long term.
Including an overallotment arrangement, Line is selling up to
132.8 billion yen ($1.3 billion) of shares. The IPO pricing
values the company at 693 billion yen ($6.9 billion).
Line's messaging app was launched in the aftermath of Japan's
2011 earthquake and tsunami to overcome downed communications,
growing unexpectedly to become the country's dominant mobile
messaging platform over the next few years.
The bulk of its revenue comes from games and sales of emojis and
electronic stickers.
Line will debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday and
on the Tokyo Stock Exchange the following day.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Nomura are managing
the listing.
($1 = 100.8100 yen)
(Reporting by Chris Gallagher; Additional reporting by Yoshiyuki
Osada and Emi Emoto; Editing by Stephen Coates and Edwina Gibbs)
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