SEOUL– Video game developer Krafton Inc.’s initial public offering (IPO) drew lukewarm responses from retail investors, with their deposits for IPO subscriptions just at 5 trillion won (US$4.35 billion), its IPO managers said Tuesday.
During the two-day subscription, the subscription rate stood at 7.79:1 for shares allocated for retail investors.
The developer behind the global hit “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” (PUBG) is set to go public on Aug. 10.
Last week, Krafton set its IPO price at 498,000 won.
The gaming label lowered its IPO pricing band to between 400,000 won and 498,000 won, from the previous 458,000 won-557,000 won range, as financial authorities requested revisions to its plan amid overvaluation concerns.
The IPO price places Krafton’s valuation at 24.3 trillion won, trumping the market caps of video game compatriots, such as NCSOFT Corp. at 18.4 trillion won and Netmarble Corp. at 12.2 trillion won.
Krafton’s listing is expected to be one of the largest ever on the local bourse. Samsung Life Insurance Co. holds the record for its 4.89 trillion-won IPO in 2010.
The company is looking to expand its video game portfolio with the launch of the new in-house mobile game “PUBG: New State” as early as September this year and the horror game “Callisto Protocol” next year.
The subscription deposits by retail investors are smaller compared with those of other large IPO deals this year, such as SK IE Technology Co. and SK Bioscience Co., which raised 43.8 trillion won and 33.9 trillion won in subscription deposits, respectively.
Kakao Bank, one of the country’s three internet-only banks, raised 58.3 trillion won in its two-day subscription for retail investors last week.
Source: Yonhap News Agency