3 Minutes to Read by 3 Minutes to Read by 3 Minutes to Read by 3 SEOUL/HONG KONG (Source: Reuters) Krafton Inc, a South Korean game maker, said on Monday that it will resubmit an application for a $5 billion domestic listing after the financial regulator raised concerns about the proposal, which sources claimed would cause the listing to be delayed. PHOTO FROM THE FILE: Players are seen in Berlin, Germany, on July 26, 2018, at the PUBG Global Invitational 2018, the first official esports competition for the computer game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Fabrizio Bensch/REUTERS “In response to the Financial Supervisory Service’s (FSS) inquiry, Krafton intends to update our IPO registration statement,” the business said in a text message to Reuters. According to two sources with firsthand knowledge of the situation, the IPO, which is expected to be South Korea’s largest ever, could be delayed for up to a fortnight as a result of the regulatory examination. In mid-July, the developer of the smash hit game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was set to go public on the Korean stock exchange. According to one of the persons, the regulator was scrutinizing the company’s listing documentation but had found no major issues. Krafton declined to comment on the IPO’s postponement in its message. Because the material had not yet been made public, the two sources could not be identified. The FSS requested that Krafton resubmit its IPO registration statement because it believed the company’s filing to have fallen into one of three categories: not having a proper format; containing false information or an omission of important facts; or including unclear statements that could undermine investors’ reasonable judgment or a combination of the three. According to local legislation, if the company does not submit the amended registration statement within three months, the previously submitted statement would be considered withdrawn. Krafton had been meeting investors for the previous two weeks and was scheduled to hold more briefings this week when the deal was delayed, according to one of the people. In a regulatory filing on June 16, Krafton stated it planned to offer 10 million shares, consisting of 7 million new shares and 3 million existing shares, at a price range of 458,000-557,000 won per share. The company would have been valued at around $30.9 billion if it had gone public. Krafton would be the biggest IPO in South Korea since Samsung Life Insurance’s 4.9 trillion won ($4.4 billion) float in 2010, according to exchange data. According to the IPO documents, Tencent Holdings Ltd is Krafton’s second largest shareholder, owning 15.35% of the firm through an investment vehicle. Scott Murdoch contributed reporting, while Ana Nicolaci da Costa edited the piece. Continue reading
