Japan-based messaging app LINE Corp has decided to price its IPO at 3,300 yen ($31.62), which is 17% higher than initial price after it witnessed strong demand from investors, fetching the company more than $1.14 billion, reports Wall Street Journal. The company announced last month that it will go public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), to strengthen its position in the Asian market and expand globally, while initially pricing 35 million shares for an indicative price of 2,800 yen ($26.83) each. LINE said in a statement yesterday that it would sell 35 million shares for a price of 3,300 yen ($31.62) each, with 13 million new shares being listed in Japan and 22 million shares overseas in NYSE. The total offering size is approximately 115.5 billion yen ($1.14 billion), assuming the underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional shares, added the statement. The IPO will begin trading in NYSE on July 14, 2016 under the symbol “LN” and will trade in the Tokyo Stock Exchange on July 15, 2016 Overwhelming demand: A Bloomberg report mentions that individual investors had agreed to pay up to 3,800 yen ($36) per share, while traders and other brokerage firms were willing to bid up to 4,200 yen ($62.52). The IPO was oversubscribed at almost 25 times than the original offering, added the report. This is undoubtedly the largest IPO value for any technology company in 2016. Last month, when the IPO was announced, LINE’s South…
