(LEAD) Messaging app LINE sets IPO price

(ATTN: ADDS more info in 3-5 paras)
By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, July 11 Yonhap) -- Japan-based global messaging app operator LINE Corp. on Monday said it has set the price of its initial public offering (IPO) at the top of its target range.

The popular messaging service, wholly owned by South Korea's top portal operator Naver Corp., said it finalized the IPO price at 3,300 yen (US$32.77) a share after setting a price range of 2,900 yen to 3,300.

"The firm earned confidence after receiving positive responses from overseas," said a LINE official on the customary condition of anonymity, noting that the firm was also lucky as there was no other big firm going public.

The company said it will officially debut its shares in Tokyo on Friday and in New York on Thursday, in what could be the largest IPO by a technology company around the globe this year.

LINE is expected to raise about 1.5 trillion won with a dual listing in the United States and Japan, with the market value likely to reach some 693 billion yen, the largest among Japanese firms listed this year.

LINE announced plans for the IPO weeks before Britain's unprecedented vote to leave the European Union (EU).

The IPO comes two years after LINE, which entered the mobile messenger business five years ago, started to push for its market debut.

LINE said earlier the proceeds from the IPO will be used to promote its further growth in Japan and the global market, such as mergers and acquisitions.

The company has seen the growth of the number of its messaging app users slow down since the second quarter of last year. Naver, South Korea's largest Internet portal, owns 100 percent of LINE, which is based in Japan, and operates a mobile messenger of the same name that is popular in Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia. The number of LINE's monthly active users came to 220 million as of March this year.

khj@yna.co.kr
(END)