Line今日上市，为今年以来最大IPO

6月28日，日本通信应用运营商Line Corp确定了在东京首次公开募股的发行价区间，从而使自身最高估值达到65.7亿美元，表明市场对这家公司的追捧。Line在推介时的自我定位是稳定的投资对象，而非快速成长的初创公司。

Line隶属于韩国主要互联网企业Naver Corp，本次设定的发行价为每股2700-3200日元。按照上限计算，该公司拟发行的4025万股股票可筹集资金1290亿日元（12.6亿美元）。

这将成为今年全球科技行业规模最大的IPO。

Line发布此项公告之际，全球金融市场正在震荡，原因是6月23日英国公投决定脱欧让投资者对经济不确定性感到担心。

该公司推迟了原定于6月27日发布公告的决定，以便评估这一整天全球股市的反应。不少人担心市场波动会让该公司推迟或搁置上市计划，但恰恰相反，Line在6月28日就发布了乐观的定价。

最高发行价超过了6月初2800日元的参考价，这表明Line在首发推介中强调价值以及在日本、泰国、印尼和台湾核心市场的稳定回报得到了投资者欢迎。

虽然这样的推介可能切合眼下不明朗的局势，但淡化爆发式增长的可能性也削弱了一些国内投资者的兴趣。

部分基金经理指出，Line应该在赋予它更高价值的快速增长阶段上市，也就是2011年日本地震和海啸灾难之后，该公司的产品从临时通信工具发展成了主导日本市场的移动通信App。

但东京几家证券经纪公司以及一位参与本次IPO的人士告诉路透社，日本国内散户和国际投资者对本次IPO表现出了很大的兴趣。

管理着1400亿日元资产的一吉资产管理公司总裁秋野充成说：“短期利润前景可以上调的公司变少了。因此Line可能很容易引起人们的兴趣。”

Line7月14日在纽约上市，第二天在东京上市。该公司已聘请摩根士丹利、高盛、摩根大通和野村负责IPO事宜。

译者：Charlie

审校：詹妮

Japan’s Line Corp on Tuesday set a price range for a Tokyo share sale that could value the messaging app operator at up to $6.57 billion, indicating strong demand for a firm that pitched itself as a stable investment rather than quick-growing startup.

Line, owned by South Korea’s Naver Corp, set a tentative range of 2,700 yen to 3,200 yen a share. At the top of the range, Line could raise 129 billion yen ($1.26 billion) from the sale of as many as 40.25 million shares.

That would make the initial public offering (IPO) the largest in the global tech industry this year.

Line‘s announcement comes at a time of volatility in global financial markets as investors fret about economic uncertainty after Britain voted to leave the European Union in a referendum on June 23.

The company had delayed the announcement on Monday to assess global stock market reaction throughout the day. But its bullish pricing on Tuesday ran counter to any fear of volatility prompting firms to postpone or even shelve IPO plans.

The top of Line‘s price range, when compared with the 2,800 yen reference price released earlier in June, suggests investors warmed to an IPO pitch that emphasized value and steady returns in its core markets of Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Taiwan.

While that pitch might suit the current period of uncertainty, playing down chances of explosive growth had blunted interest from some domestic investors.

Some fund managers said Line should have listed when it commanded more value during its period of rapid growth – from a makeshift communications tool born in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami to Japan’s dominant mobile messaging app.

But local retail investors and international investors expressed high interest in the listing, brokerages in Tokyo and a person involved in the listing told Reuters.

“There are fewer companies around with short-term profit outlooks that can be increased,” said Mitsushige Akino, executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management, which oversees 140 billion yen worth of assets. “So it’s probably been easy (for Line) to attract interest.”

Line plans to list in New York on July 14 and in Tokyo the following day. It has hired Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Nomura to manage the listing.