Krafton prices at 498,000 a share, the top of the range

Krafton's initial public offering (IPO) price was set on Thursday at 498,000 won ($434.7) per share, the upper end of the price range despite concerns about valuation.

Krafton’s initial public offering (IPO) price was set on Thursday at 498,000 won ($434.7) per share, the upper end of the price range despite concerns about valuation.

The company, best known as the developer of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, had pulled down its IPO price range by around 10 percent early this month after the Financial Supervisory Service asked for clearer justification for the number.

The game maker is offering 8,654,230 shares at between 400,000 won and 498,000 won a share.

As the upper end has been hit, the company will be able to raise 4.3 trillion won through the IPO. This is the second largest capital raise in Korea, after Samsung Life Insurance’s 4.88-trillion-won IPO in 2010.

The company will list with a market capitalization of around 24.4 trillion won, becoming the largest Kospi-listed gaming company in the country. Currently, the top Kospi-listed game company, NCSoft, has a market capitalization of 18.5 trillion won based on the share’s closing price Thursday.

The market cap will also make it the 15th largest Kospi-listed company, beating battery maker SK Innovation, which has a market cap of 23.9 trillion won.

The price was set after two weeks of bookbuilding that ended Tuesday.

According to Krafton, 621 institutions at home and abroad participated. Based on the demand forecast, the game company’s shares were oversubscribed by 243 times. Of the total sale, 55 percent were allotted to institutional investors.

Krafton said in statement that large institutions including foreign pension funds with long-only investment goals participated in the demand forecast.

The company plans to use 70 percent of the capital raised through the IPO in acquiring global intellectual property and investing into new business areas like media content development and deep-learning technologies. The rest will be used building up their game business in emerging markets like India, the Middle East and North Africa.

Public subscription for Krafton stocks will be held for two days beginning on Aug. 2.

Subscriptions can be made through Mirae Asset Securities, NH Investment & Securities and Samsung Securities. This is the last opportunity for investors to subscribe to shares through multiple brokerages.

The company will list on the Korea Exchange for trading on the Kospi on Aug. 10.

BY KIM JEE-HEE [kim.jeehee@joongang.co.kr]