Naver Webtoon's impending U.S. stock listing boosts other Korean webtoon companies

Naver Webtoon CEO Kim Jun-koo speaks at a press event held in Naver's headquarters in Pangyo, Gyeonggi, on April 25, 2023. [NAVER WEBTOON]

The impending debut of Naver Webtoon on the U.S. stock market expected in the next month is driving up the share prices of other domestic webtoon companies.

Local media outlets reported on Thursday that the webtoon operator’s listing is imminent as Webtoon Entertainment, Naver Webtoon’s U.S.-based subsidiary, began recruiting employees in various departments such as IT, human resources, marketing and operations.

The webtoon operator has enlisted Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to work on the initial public offering (IPO), and is planning to go public as early as June, Bloomberg reported in February.

A Naver Webtoon spokesperson, however, declined to comment on the matter.

Naver Webtoon’s listing is “going as planned,” and is expected to occur sometime this year, according to Naver’s chief financial officer, Kim Nam-sun, in an online conference call in August.

Kim had said that the growth rate by region is largest in Japan, followed by North America.

Webtoon Entertainment is 71.2-percent owned by its parent company, Naver, and 28.7-percent owned by LY Corporation, the operator behind Japan’s popular messaging app Line.

Following the news, the share prices of other domestic webtoon companies have experienced increases that have reached into the double digits. Kidari Studio’s shares spiked 11.15 percent to close at 4,885 won ($3.54) on Thursday, followed by NBT shares which rose 10.9 percent to 6,310 won. Finger Story shares surged 4.26 percent to 3,425 won, and D&C Media shares climbed 2.13 percent to 28,750 won. YLAB shares jumped 1.86 percent to 12,610 won.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]