BTS agency livestream its market debut on stock market

SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- Big Hit Entertainment, the management agency of K-pop superstar BTS, began livestreaming its market debut on South Korea's main bourse Thursday.

The company's IPO ceremony began just before 9:00 a.m., streamed on a real-time basis around the globe at https://youtu.be/VqwhLADsInE.

The Seoul-based entertainment company was listed on the main KOSPI and began trading at 9 a.m., the Korea Exchange said.

The ceremony marks the first IPO celebration in about three months, due to the new coronavirus. The South Korean government eased the quarantine measures to the lowest level last weekend.

The agency has been called one of this year's three big IPO deals in South Korea, along with biopharmaceutical blue chip SK Biopharmaceuticals and mobile game giant Kakao Games.

The company's IPO price was set at 135,000 won (US$117). If Big Hit closes at the highest permissible on its debut day, the stock price will finish as high as 351,000 won.

Big Hit Entertainment chief Bang Si-hyuk holds the most shares (12,377,337), or a 36.6 percent stake valued at 1.67 trillion won based on the IPO price, in Big Hit Entertainment, according to the agency and financial industry data.

Earlier this month, Big Hit Entertainment put up 1,426,000 shares, valued at 192.51 billion won, for the offering to retail investors.

Last year, the agency's annual sales almost doubled to 587.2 billion won, with an operating profit of 98.7 billion won.

jwc@yna.co.kr
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