Messaging app Line plans up to $3 billion dual IPO in New York and Tokyo: IFR

HONG KONG (Reuters) — Messaging app operator Line Corp, which is owned by South Korea’s largest web portal operator, Naver Corp, plans an initial public offering of up to $3 billion in New York and Tokyo, IFR reported on Friday, citing people close to the deal.

Preparations are being made for the listing, which is expected to take place before the end of the summer in the northern hemisphere, added IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication, citing one of the people familiar with the deal. The listing would take place on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and either the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq.

Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Nomura are working on the deal, IFR said.

A Naver spokesman told Reuters it was considering various options for Line’s IPO but nothing had been decided. Naver’s CFO Hwang In-joon said last August the company would put off the IPO of Line until its earnings and market conditions improved.

(Reporting by Robert Hartley of IFR; Additional reporting by Se Young Lee in Seoul; Writing by Elzio Barreto; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)