Naver Webtoon aims for $2.67 billion valuation with Nasdaq IPO

Naver Webtoon's booth at the 51st Angouleme Cartoon Festival in France. [NAVER WEBTOON]

Naver Webtoon is seeking a maximum valuation of $2.67 billion through an initial public offering (IPO) on the U.S. Nasdaq market.

The webtoon platform, known as Webtoon Entertainment in the United States and headquartered in Los Angeles, filed for a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, with an IPO price per share projection of $18 to $21.

The company seeks to raise a maximum of $315 million through the issuance of 15 million shares.

By applying the upper end of the IPO price range, the post-listing market value is to reach $2.67 billion.

Once the IPO is complete, Webtoon Entertainment will be traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "WBTN."

After the IPO, Naver will retain a 63.4 percent stake in Webtoon Entertainment to remain the majority shareholder with the right to appoint board directors. Line Yahoo, the Tokyo-based operator behind Line and Yahoo Japan, will follow with a 24.7 percent stake in the company.

Separately, Webtoon Entertainment announced on the same day that Naver U.Hub, the Korean internet platform's U.S. subsidiary, will purchase shares worth $50 million.

Webtoon Entertainment arrived at its current management form after recapitalization between Naver Webtoon and Line Digital Frontier, the operator behind Japan’s digital comic service Line Manga, in 2020.

The following year, Naver acquired the Toronto-based self-publishing platform Wattpad for $600 million and placed it under Webtoon Entertainment.

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