(Bloomberg) -- Krafton Inc., the company behind the hit mobile game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, filed to raise as much as 5.6 trillion won ($5 billion) in a South Korean initial public offering that is set to be the country’s largest ever.
The gaming company will sell more than 10 million shares at 458,000 won to 557,000 won apiece, Pangyo-based Krafton said in a filing Wednesday. At the top of the range, it would have a market capitalization of 28 trillion won, based on the number of common shares.
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Krafton is poised to smash records for the biggest debut among South Korean companies, previously held by Coupang Inc., which raised $4.6 billion in an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in March. The largest listing on domestic exchanges had been Samsung Life Insurance Co.’s $4.3 billion share sale in 2010. Riding a boom in retail trading, Asia’s fourth largest economy is on track for a record year of floats, with more deals from the likes of LG Energy Solution and Kakao’s affiliates likely to come in the second half.
Founded by Chang Byung-gyu in 2007, Krafton -- formerly known as Bluehole Inc. -- released the battle royale game PUBG in 2017. One of the best-selling games in the world, PUBG accounts for the vast majority of the company’s sales and profits. Krafton had revenue of 1.67 trillion won and operating income of 774 billion won last year, according to a regulatory filing.
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The company hired Mirae Asset Daewoo as lead arranger while Credit Suisse Group AG, Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and NH Investment & Securities are co-arrangers.
Following the success of PUBG, Krafton is seeking to expand its growth drivers by adding a new battle royale mobile title and a PC game that’s based on PUBG. It’s also planning to create an animated show and web cartoon that depict the game’s universe, Chief Executive Officer Kim Chang-han said in an interview published in January.
Krafton is expanding the reach of PUBG into new markets, including India. The corporation took over from Tencent Holdings Ltd. as publisher of the game in the South Asian nation, where it had notched up 175 million downloads before it was banned last year following heightened political tensions with China.
Founder Chang held a 16.4% stake in Krafton as of March 31, followed by Tencent, which owns 15.5% through a subsidiary. CEO Kim, who led the development of PUBG, had a 1.2% stake, a May filing showed.
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