- Korea's Big Hit Entertainment, which manages K-pop idol band BTS, priced its upcoming
IPO at the top of its anticipated range and was swamped by investor demand. - The offering, which priced at 135,000 won ($115) a share, was 1,117 times oversubscribed, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.
- Big Hit will list on Seoul's KOSPI index in early October
Big Hit Entertainment, the agency behind South Korean boyband BTS, has priced its upcoming initial public offering at the top of its anticipated range, having been flooded with prospective investors on Monday.
The company, headed by CEO Bang Si Hyuk, priced its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) at the very top of its indicative range of 105,000-135,000 won ($115) a share, it said in a regulatory filing on Monday
Big Hit manages a number of popular K-pop names, but none as successful as BTS, the seven-member group that has made history by becoming the first South Korean band to storm to the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with their English-language hit "Dynamite".
Aside from their success in the music world, the IPO will make the members of BTS multimillionaires in their own right. Bang, a lyricist and composer, and the largest shareholder of Bit Hit Entertainment, gave 478,695 common shares to the seven band members, or 68,385 apiece, according to Reuters.
The filing showed the stock was 1,117 times oversubscribed by institutional investors.
Shares in other entertainment companies shot higher following the announcement. YG Entertainment closed almost 12% higher on the day, while JYP Entertainment, which manages BTS rival band Stray Kids, rose 9.9%. The broader KOSPI 50 index ended 1.3% higher
Big Hit will also raise 962.55 billion Korean won through the offering. The company will join Seoul's KOSPI index next month.
JPMorgan, Korea Investments & Securities and NH Investment & Securities will jointly manage the offering.