Photo : KBS
Shares of the online comics platform Webtoon Entertainment, backed by South Korea’s tech giant Naver Corporation, climbed nearly ten percent above their initial public offering(IPO) price in their debut on the U.S. stock market on Thursday.
The stock opened at 21 dollars 30 cents and closed at 23 dollars on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, up nine-point-five percent from the IPO price.
Webtoon Entertainment priced its IPO of 15 million common stocks at the top range price of 21 dollars per share on Wednesday, allowing the company to raise 315 million dollars, or 440 billion won, through the IPO.
Considering the closing price of 23 dollars per share on the first trading day, the company’s valuation is estimated at two-point-92 billion dollars, or some four trillion won.
Naver holds a 63-point-four percent stake in Webtoon Entertainment.
Webtoons are digitally created short-form comics optimized for reading on mobile devices. Originating in South Korea in the early 2000s, they gained global popularity with the success of many movies and dramas based on the webtoons.