Regulator hits pause on game developer Krafton’s $5 billion IPO

The launch had been set to be the biggest in South Korea since the $4.4 billion float of Samsung Life Insurance in 2010 but it has now been set back for a fortnight over undisclosed issues

South Korean game developer Krafton Inc has admitted that it will have to resubmit an application for its $5 billion domestic listing after the country’s financial regulator intervened.

The delay of the IPO, set to be South Korea’s biggest ever, could be for up to a fortnight because of the regulatory review, according to sources. The developer of the smash hit game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was due to list on the Korean stock exchange in mid-July.

It’s claimed the regulator was still reviewing the company’s listing documents but had yet to identify any major issue, a source said.

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However, Krafton did confirm on Friday, in a regulatory filing, that South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service had requested that the company resubmit its IPO registration statement.

If the company does not submit the revised registration statement within three months, the previously submitted statement will be considered withdrawn, according to local regulations.

Krafton had been pressing on its with IPO, meeting investors over the past fortnight and was due to hold more briefings this week before the deal was delayed, it’s claimed.

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In a regulatory filing on June 16 Krafton said it expected to offer 10 million shares, or 7 million new shares and 3 million existing shares, at an indicative range of 458,000-557,000 won per share.

The IPO would have valued the company at about $30.9 billion.

At $5 billion-plus, Krafton would become the biggest IPO in South Korea since the 4.9 trillion won ($4.4 billion) float of Samsung Life Insurance in 2010, exchange data shows.

Krafton’s second largest shareholder is Tencent Holdings Ltd, which owns 15.35% of the company through an investment vehicle, according to the IPO filings.

Reporting by Reuters

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Sean O'Meara

Sean O'Meara is an Editor at Asia Financial. He has been a newspaper man for more than 30 years, working at local, regional and national titles in the UK as a writer, sub-editor, page designer and print editor. A football, cricket and rugby fan, he has a particular interest in sports finance.