By Nam Hyun-woo
Mirae Asset Daewoo was the only Korean securities firm that took part in the 1.5-trillion-won initial public offering (IPO) process of LINE, the Japan-based subsidiary of Naver, according to industry sources, Friday.
Mirae Asset Daewoo said its Hong Kong corporate body provided advice and consultation to Japan’s Tokai Tokyo Securities to join the process. Market watchers said that Mirae Asset Daewoo Tokyo office’s network and relations with LINE worked for the advice. The Korean firm reportedly took hundreds of millions of won from its Japanese counterpart in commissions.
This came as the only Korean investment bank’s involvement in the global deal, which was dominated by global giants such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Nomura Securities and JP Morgan Securities.
Line offered 22 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange on July 14 and its 13 million shares began trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on July 15, becoming the largest technology IPO of 2016.
The mobile messenger operator’s trading debut on the bourses were expected to draw tens of billions of won in commissions, but no domestic investment banks directly joined the deal as global coordinators, lead managers or bookrunners.
In announcing its price, LINE announced that Morgan Stanley, Nomura Securities, Goldman Sachs Japan and JPMorgan Securities Japan as the joint global coordinators for the global offering. These firms reportedly underwrote some 90.5 percent of LINE shares on the New York bourse and 82.8 percent of the shares on the Tokyo bourse. Other underwriters, including Tokai Tokyo Securities, were assigned with up to 6 percent.
Meanwhile, Mirae Asset Daewoo will merge Mirae Asset Securities in November to become the largest securities firm in Korea. Should the government set the standard for its mega-sized investment bank nurturing plan at 5 trillion won of its own capital, the merged firm would be the only beneficiary.
“A company’s increased capital means that it can tap into more businesses,” said a securities firm official. “Its merger will open more opportunities for overseas businesses down the road.”