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Source: Maks_lab ,Shutterstock
Summary
- Coupang increased the IPO size from 120 million to 130 million shares late on Wednesday.
- South Korean e-commerce giant to start trading on NYSE on Thursday.
- Based on the IPO price, Coupang is valued at nearly US$60 billion.
Softbank-backed South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang (CPNG) raised US$4.55 billion in an initial public offering (IOP) ahead of its trading debut in the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.
Coupang updated the IPO price from US$32-34 per share to US$35, as well as the size from 120 million to 130 million shares late on Wednesday, bringing its valuation to around US$60 billion.
This is the largest debut by a foreign company since Alibaba’s IPO in 2014. It also surpasses Airbnb’s (ABNB) IPO valued at US$47 billion. Coupang will trade under the ticker CPNG in NYSE.
Coupang has made giant strides both at home and China, one of Coupang’s fastest growing markets. South Korea’s e-commerce segment is expected to soar to US$206 billion by 2024.
Pic Credit: Pixabay.
Coupang A-list IPO Investors:
Japan's Masayoshi Son-led Softbank Group is one of Coupang’s biggest investors, with a share worth $20 billion, based on the IPO price. Others include billionaire Bill Ackman, Sequoia Capital, and BlackRock.
In 2020, its revenues rose 72 per cent to US$11.9 billion, compared to a year-ago period. However, its net loss of US$474.6 million was an improvement from a US$699 million loss in the previous year.
The South Korean company had around 14.8 million active customers and 50,000 employees by the end of 2020. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Allen & Co. are the main underwriters of the IPO.
According to industry analysts, the number of institutional investors who expressed interest in Coupang shares was much higher than the IPO offering.
Coupang, founded in 2010 by Bom Suk Kim, who is also the company CEO, saw incredible growth during the pandemic last year, which reflected in investors’ warm reception to its US listing. The IPO pricing also showed investors’ growing confidence in the company, which almost doubled its revenues in 2020, while reducing its operating losses.
