Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Private Capital Markets

In this insight, we provide the top 100 unicorns in Asia (including summaries), broken down by the major countries in Asia. China, India, and Korea lead the Asian countries in having the most number of Asian unicorns. We used the standard definition of a unicorn which refers to a privately held startup company valued at over $1 billion.
Clearly, one of the key differences in the global markets now as compared to a decade or two decades ago is the fact that the world's biggest venture capital and private equity firms are willing to invest a greater amount of capital in attractive Unicorns and "Pre-Unicorns" which has resulted in many of these private companies delaying their potential exit to IPO at later stages of their businesses. 
There has been so much money made from the first generation tech giants such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Alibaba, and Tencent. Many of these companies were not profitable in their early stages of growth but later gained tremendous economies of scale. Therefore, many investors in the Asian unicorns that have seen the progress of the first-generation tech giants are willing to invest in promising, young companies without profitability now to see their business development take place which could potentially reward them with outstanding returns later on.

In this insight, we provide the top 100 unicorns in Asia (including summaries), broken down by the major countries in Asia. China, India, and Korea lead the Asian countries in having the most number of Asian unicorns. We used the standard definition of a unicorn which refers to a privately held startup company valued at over $1 billion.
Clearly, one of the key differences in the global markets now as compared to a decade or two decades ago is the fact that the world's biggest venture capital and private equity firms are willing to invest a greater amount of capital in attractive Unicorns and "Pre-Unicorns" which has resulted in many of these private companies delaying their potential exit to IPO at later stages of their businesses. 
There has been so much money made from the first generation tech giants such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Alibaba, and Tencent. Many of these companies were not profitable in their early stages of growth but later gained tremendous economies of scale. Therefore, many investors in the Asian unicorns that have seen the progress of the first-generation tech giants are willing to invest in promising, young companies without profitability now to see their business development take place which could potentially reward them with outstanding returns later on. 

Equity Capital Markets

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kakao-games-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26730:1" rel="noopener">Kakao Games (1404796D KS)</a> is attempting to complete its IPO in 2H 2020. Kakao Games and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/krafton-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28956:1" rel="noopener"> Krafton Inc (1486402D KS)</a> are two major game-related IPOs that are expected in 2H 2020. In the last week of April, Kakao Games announced that it plans to complete its IPO by the end of this year. Kakao Games hired Samsung Securities and Korea Investment &amp; Securities to be the lead underwriters of this IPO.Kakao Games is a leading game publisher in Korea with a focus on mobile and PC online games. As a game publisher, it is known for Black Desert online (serviced in North America and Europe), a successful MMORPG in the global market, and Player Unknown's Battlegrounds (serviced in Korea). Kakao Games is currently offering games such as Battlegrounds, Pass of Exile, and Princess Connect Re-dive. Kraftton's Air (A:IR) is also scheduled to be launched soon. Kakao Games core business remains game publishing. However, the company is trying to expand its own game development and its recent numerous acquisitions of game developers are a strong sign of the company's aggressive expansion in this area.

Kakao Games (1404796D KS) is attempting to complete its IPO in 2H 2020. Kakao Games and  Krafton Inc (1486402D KS) are two major game-related IPOs that are expected in 2H 2020. In the last week of April, Kakao Games announced that it plans to complete its IPO by the end of this year. Kakao Games hired Samsung Securities and Korea Investment &amp; Securities to be the lead underwriters of this IPO.Kakao Games is a leading game publisher in Korea with a focus on mobile and PC online games. As a game publisher, it is known for Black Desert online (serviced in North America and Europe), a successful MMORPG in the global market, and Player Unknown's Battlegrounds (serviced in Korea). Kakao Games is currently offering games such as Battlegrounds, Pass of Exile, and Princess Connect Re-dive. Kraftton's Air (A:IR) is also scheduled to be launched soon. Kakao Games core business remains game publishing. However, the company is trying to expand its own game development and its recent numerous acquisitions of game developers are a strong sign of the company's aggressive expansion in this area. 

<div class="content-highlight"><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/krafton-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28956:1" rel="noopener">Krafton Inc (1486402D KS)</a> is one of the most anticipated IPOs in Korea in 2020. The local media recently have mentioned that Krafton's market cap could be more than 5 trillion won. Krafton is one of the leading game companies in Korea. </div>Krafton Chairman Chang Byung-Kyu founded a company called Bluehole Studio in 2007. He was previously one of the founders of Neowiz in 1997. On 5 November 2018, a new company called Krafton Game Union was launched that would serve as the parent company for Bluehole and its subsidiaries. In April 2020, <a href="https://www.etnews.com/20200421000342" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Neptune</a> sold 80,000 shares of Krafton for 46.4 billion won (580,000 won per share). This is nearly 19x higher the price of 30,000 won per share it paid for in early 2017. Post this sale, Neptune still has 86,666 shares of Krafton. Neptune will use the new funds for M&amp;A and new game content development. Neptune's latest sale of 80,000 shares of Krafton would value the company at 4.7 trillion won ($3.8 billion).

Krafton Inc (1486402D KS) is one of the most anticipated IPOs in Korea in 2020. The local media recently have mentioned that Krafton's market cap could be more than 5 trillion won. Krafton is one of the leading game companies in Korea. Krafton Chairman Chang Byung-Kyu founded a company called Bluehole Studio in 2007. He was previously one of the founders of Neowiz in 1997. On 5 November 2018, a new company called Krafton Game Union was launched that would serve as the parent company for Bluehole and its subsidiaries. In April 2020, Neptune sold 80,000 shares of Krafton for 46.4 billion won (580,000 won per share). This is nearly 19x higher the price of 30,000 won per share it paid for in early 2017. Post this sale, Neptune still has 86,666 shares of Krafton. Neptune will use the new funds for M&amp;A and new game content development. Neptune's latest sale of 80,000 shares of Krafton would value the company at 4.7 trillion won ($3.8 billion).

South Korea

Krafton, Inc. operates as a game development company. The Company develops console games, mobile games, computer games, and other related products. Krafton markets its products throughout South Korea.

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Krafton (259960 KS)

Top 100 Asian Unicorns

A unicorn is a term in business world to indicate a privately held startup company valued at over $1 billion.

Douglas Kim

Initial Thoughts on the Kakao Games IPO

Kakao Games (1404796D KS) is attempting to complete its IPO in 2H 2020. Kakao Games and Krafton Inc (1486402D KS) are two major game-related IPOs...

Douglas Kim

Initial Thoughts on the Krafton IPO

Krafton Inc (1486402D KS) is one of the most anticipated IPOs in Korea in 2020. The local media recently have mentioned that Krafton's market cap...

Douglas Kim

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