À̹ÌÁö È®´ë [Photo provided by Big Hit Entertainment]
Big Hit Entertainment, the South Korean label behind the superstar boyband BTS, is aiming for an initial public offering on the country¡¯s main Kospi bourse by the end of the year, unlike its local rivals trading in the smaller Kosdaq market.
Big Hit has been working with its syndicate team on site at its headquarters in Gangnam, Seoul with plans to file its preliminary IPO prospectus by June, according to investment banking sources. Last month, the agency named NH Investment & Securities and Korea Investment & Securities as its bookrunners, and added Mirae Asset Daewoo and JPMorgan Chase as joint underwriters.
¡°Big Hit wants to list on the Kospi market by the end of 2020,¡± a market insider noted, though the schedule could change ¡°if IPO market conditions do not improve.¡±
Bit Hit is one of the biggest names on this year¡¯s IPO pipeline along with SK Biopharmaceuticals. Underwriters estimated Big Hit¡¯s market value to be 6 trillion won ($4.87 billion), compared with SK Biopharmaceuticals¡¯ 5 trillion won.
Last year, the agency delivered a consolidated operating profit of 98.7 billion won on revenue of 587.2 billion won. Net profit reached 72.4 billion won.
À̹ÌÁö È®´ë Given that the price earnings ratio of Big Hit¡¯s peers is 30 to 40, the agency¡¯s value could easily reach 3 trillion won to 4 trillion won, eclipsing the total market cap of the country¡¯s top three entertainment labels. As of last Friday, JYP Entertainment¡¯s market cap stood at 702.8 billion won, SM Entertainment at 589.7 billion won and YG Entertainment at 510.6 billion won.
Big Hit recently tapped Jon Inchon, former chief financial officer of ADT Caps, as its new CFO to ready itself for the stock offering.
Jon is a corporate finance veteran, with 12 years of experience as financial analyst at Procter & Gamble. He served as the CFO for Mundipharma for two years until 2015 and went on to become the CFO and CEO of Young Toys, a Korean toy maker invested by Hong Kong-based private equity firm PAG. Under his two-year tenure, Young Toys saw its operating profit surge to 30 billion won from 6.4 billion won and sales rise to 156.4 billion won from 77.1 billion won.
Big Hit is reportedly looking to recruit another IPO financial specialist.
By Kang Woo-seok and Kim Hyo-jin
[¨Ï Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]