Line Corp, operator of Japan’s most popular mobile messaging service, is preparing for a dual listing in Tokyo and New York before Japan Post Holdings Co’s initial public offering (IPO), people with knowledge of the matter said.
The Tokyo-based company aims to sell shares some time near September to avoid competing for investors with state-owned Japan Post, the sources said, asking not to be named as the information is private.
The Japanese government has said it would raise as much as ￥2 trillion (US$16.5 billion) from a Japan Post listing later in the year. Line has resumed work with Morgan Stanley and Nomura Holdings Inc on plans for its offering, which could value it at more than ￥1 trillion, the sources said.
Shares of companies that do business with Line climbed in Tokyo trading yesterday. Adways Inc, the agent for Line’s “Free Coin” application, rose 3.4 percent to close at the highest in six weeks. Digital marketing firm Netyear Group Corp closed 3.5 percent higher after surging by as much as 9.2 percent. Media Kobo Inc, which offers “fortune-telling” services to Line users, jumped 8.4 percent.
Line, controlled by South Korean search portal Naver Corp, is customizing its software as it seeks to challenge Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp service outside Asia. The company, which makes money by asking smartphone users to pay for teddy bear icons and games, has 205 million monthly active users, it said in a statement last month.
Naver spokesman Nam Ji-woong said Line is considering an IPO as one of several options, though details such as the timing, listing venue and valuation have not been decided.
Tokyo-based Line spokesman Kota Momoki said the company has yet to decide on whether to go public.
Representatives for Nomura and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
Line’s sales for the quarter through March surged 70 percent from a year earlier to ￥28.1 billion, after more than doubling last year. More than half its active users are located in Taiwan, Japan, Thailand and Indonesia, according to last month’s statement.
Naver put Line’s listing plan on hold in September last year, saying it would not sell shares last year because it’s “not the best timing.” The South Korean firm said in March that it is still considering a share sale for the messaging business in the US or Japan.
Line confidentially filed for an IPO in the US last year as part of plans for a dual listing in New York and Tokyo, people with knowledge of the matter said in July last year. The company also submitted a listing application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange, according to a July statement.
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