Coupang raises $4.6 billion in US IPO

Coupang Founder Kim Bom-suk speaks during an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box" before the bell Thursday to discuss. Screen shot of the CNBC internet website

Coupang, Korea's largest e-commerce company, raised $4.6 billion in the biggest share offering in the United States this year after selling stocks in IPO above its deal target range, the company said on Thursday.

Coupang said in a statement that it had priced 130 million shares sold in the IPO at $35 per share, higher than the marketing range $32-$34 per share, giving Seoul-headquartered e-commerce giant, which is backed by Japan's SoftBank Group, a market value of $60 billion.

Founded in 2010 by Korean-American billionaire Kiim Bom-suk, Coupang rose to prominence after launching its guaranteed same-day or next-day delivery service in the East Asian country. SoftBank's $100 billion Vision Fund owns 35.1% of Coupang.

Achieving a $60 billion valuation would add to good news for the Vision Fund, which is bouncing back from an annual loss in March. Last month, it announced record quarterly profit.

Coupang operates an online marketplace sells everything from fresh groceries to toys, as well as food delivery app Coupang Eats.

"We're laser focused on our home market," Kim said in an interview, "We're going to invest in 50,000 more jobs and billions of dollars more in not only the infrastructure, but the unique end to end technology that powers all of those services."

In 2020, Coupang's net sales jumped 91% year-on-year to $11 billion. Net losses narrowed to $567.6 million from $770.2 million posted in the prior year.

Coupang's successful share offering comes as the U.S. IPO market is at its strongest in more than two decades and investors are flocking to buy shares in technology companies that have benefited during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The IPO is the biggest in the United States this year, surpassing the $2.15 billion raised by dating app Bumble. It also marks a jump in Coupang's valuation, which was pegged at $9 billion in a fundraising round in 2018, according to Pitchbook.

Analysts in Korea said the strong response to Coupang's offering was a result of its market-leader position in the country at a time when, like many other e-commerce firms, its sales have grown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Considering the high level of valuation inherent in the pricing, the market is giving a generous assessment of the company's achieving the top spot in market share," said Park Sang-joon, analyst at Kiwoom Securities.

Coupang was the top-ranked Korean e-commerce firm in 2020 with 19.2% market share, according to Euromonitor, compared to Naver's 13.6% and eBay Korea's 12.8%. It was the 10th largest e-commerce firm in the world, based on retail value excluding sales tax.

The company's shares will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday under the symbol "CPNG." Goldman Sachs, Allen Co, JPMorgan and Citigroup are the lead underwriters for the offering. (Reuters)

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